Which to use
“cher” is an adjective and “chérir” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #682
- “cher” frequency rank
- #40,183
- “chérir” frequency rank
- 40865
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cher | chérir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est chéri, tendrement aimé, auquel on tient beaucoup. | Aimer tendrement. |
Where the eye mixes cher and chérir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: cher vs chérir
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cher is \ʃɛʁ\ while chérir is \ʃe.ʁiʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40865, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cher is recorded at frequency rank #682, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʃɛʁ\. chérir is at rank #40,183, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʃe.ʁiʁ\.
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 40865, this pair ranks #237,328 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cher vs chérir
Shared letters: chr. Private to "cher": e. Private to "chérir": ié.
"cher" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "chérir" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cher ← ccher · cehr · cherr · chher · chre · hcer
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cher" for "chérir" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "cher" or "chérir" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "cher" and "chérir" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cher" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chérir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #237,328 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cher" and "chérir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cheik vs chérir". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #237,328 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.