Which to use
“chérir” is a verb and “chéris” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,183
- “chérir” frequency rank
- #25,925
- “chéris” frequency rank
- 66108
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chérir | chéris |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Aimer tendrement. | Masculin pluriel de chéri. |
Where the eye mixes chérir and chéris
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. chérir and chéris follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses chérir with chéris
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: chérir is \ʃe.ʁiʁ\ while chéris is \ʃe.ʁi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - r in “chérir” becomes s in “chéris”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66108, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chérir is recorded at frequency rank #40,183, classified as averb, pronounced \ʃe.ʁiʁ\. chéris is at rank #25,925, 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 66108, this pair ranks #69,254 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of chérir vs chéris
Shared letters: chiré. Private to "chérir": -. Private to "chéris": s.
"chérir" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "chéris" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "chérir" for "chéris" ever safe?
Frequency check: "chérir" vs "chéris" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "chérir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chéris" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #69,254 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chérir" and "chéris" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cheik vs chérir". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #69,254 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.