Which to use
“chèques” is a noun and “chères” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,841
- “chèques” frequency rank
- #9,289
- “chères” frequency rank
- 20130
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chèques | chères |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de chèque. | Féminin pluriel de cher. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set chèques and chères apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: chèques is \ʃɛk\ while chères is [ʃɛʁ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20130, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chèques is recorded at frequency rank #10,841, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃɛk\. chères is at rank #9,289, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ʃɛʁ].
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 20130, this pair ranks #369,805 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of chèques vs chères
Shared letters: cehsè. Private to "chèques": qu. Private to "chères": r.
"chèques" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVVC · "chères" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC