Which to use
“chères” is an adjective and “cierges” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,289
- “chères” frequency rank
- #45,510
- “cierges” frequency rank
- 54799
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chères | cierges |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de cher. | Pluriel de cierge. |
Where the eye mixes chères and cierges
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. chères runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against cierges's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between chères and cierges
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: chères is [ʃɛʁ] while cierges is \sjɛʁʒ\. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54799, 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]. cierges is at rank #45,510, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sjɛʁʒ\.
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 54799, this pair ranks #131,583 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of chères vs cierges
Shared letters: cers. Private to "chères": hè. Private to "cierges": gi.
"chères" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "cierges" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cierges ← ccierges · ceirges · ciegres · cieregs · ciergess · ciergges · ciergse · cierrges
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "chères" and "cierges" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "chères" or "cierges" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "chères" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cierges" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #131,583 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chères" and "cierges" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cierges vs courges". 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 #131,583 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.