Which to use
“chez” is a preposition and “clé” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #129
- “chez” frequency rank
- #1,987
- “clé” frequency rank
- 2116
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chez | clé |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dans la maison de, au logis de ; associé au lieu de résidence ou d'activité d'une personne. | Instrument de métal que l’on introduit dans une serrure pour ouvrir ou fermer un accès. Ancienne clé à panneton que l'on place et fait tourner dans la serrure d'une porte, d'un coffre, etc. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set chez and clé apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
chez and clé form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2116, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chez is recorded at frequency rank #129, classified as aprep, pronounced \ʃe\. clé is at rank #1,987, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kle\.
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 2116, this pair ranks #436,750 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "chez" and "clé" be used interchangeably?
Remembering chez vs clé
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a preposition, it's “chez”; for a noun, it's “clé”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “chez” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable