Which to use
“chères” is an adjective and “cherry” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,289
- “chères” frequency rank
- #19,233
- “cherry” frequency rank
- 28522
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chères | cherry |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de cher. | Cerise. |
Where the eye mixes chères and cherry
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses chères with cherry
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: chères is [ʃɛʁ] while cherry is \ˈt͡ʃɛɹ.i\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28522, 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]. cherry is at rank #19,233, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈt͡ʃɛɹ.i\.
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 28522, this pair ranks #322,260 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of chères vs cherry
Shared letters: cehr. Private to "chères": sè. Private to "cherry": y.
"chères" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "cherry" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- cherry ← ccherry · cehrry · cherryy · chery · cheryr · chherry · chrery · hcerry
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "chères" for "cherry" ever safe?
Which is more common, "chères" or "cherry"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "chères" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cherry" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #322,260 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chères" and "cherry" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Cheney vs cherry". 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 #322,260 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.