Which to use
“cher” is an adjective and “Cré” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #682
- “cher” frequency rank
- #40,203
- “Cré” frequency rank
- 40885
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cher | Cré |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est chéri, tendrement aimé, auquel on tient beaucoup. | Ancien nom de la commune française Cré-sur-Loir. |
Where the eye mixes cher and Cré
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cher with Cré
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cher is \ʃɛʁ\ while Cré is \kʁe\. 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 (adjective vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40885, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cher is recorded at frequency rank #682, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʃɛʁ\. Cré is at rank #40,203, tagged as aname, pronounced \kʁe\.
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 40885, this pair ranks #237,180 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cher vs Cré
Shared letters: cr. Private to "cher": eh. Private to "Cré": é.
"cher" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "Cré" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- cher ← ccher · cehr · cherr · chher · chre · hcer
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cher" and "Cré" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "cher" or "Cré"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cher" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Cré" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #237,180 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cher" and "Cré" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ciro vs Cré". 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 #237,180 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.