chèresvschériesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“chères” and “chéries” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#9,289
“chères” frequency rank
#43,843
“chéries” frequency rank
53132
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chères chéries
Definition Féminin pluriel de cher. Féminin pluriel de chéri.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set chères and chéries apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
chères
7 ch
chéries

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. chères ([ʃɛʁ]) and chéries (\ʃe.ʁi\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53132, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chères is recorded at frequency rank #9,289, classified as anadj, pronounced [ʃɛʁ]. chéries is at rank #43,843, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʃe.ʁi\.

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 53132, this pair ranks #142,843 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of chères vs chéries

Shared letters: cehrs. Private to "chères": è. Private to "chéries": .

"chères" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "chéries" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chères" and "chéries" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ʃɛʁ] versus \ʃe.ʁi\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "chères" or "chéries"?
"chères" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,289 in our French list, against #43,843 for "chéries". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list