chiffrervschiffresWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: chiffrer is a verb, chiffres is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“chiffrer” is a verb and “chiffres” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,900
“chiffrer” frequency rank
#1,434
“chiffres” frequency rank
26334
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chiffrer chiffres
Definition Se servir des chiffres pour calculer. Pluriel de chiffre.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set chiffrer and chiffres apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
chiffrer
8 ch
chiffres

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: chiffrer is \ʃi.fʁe\ while chiffres is \ʃifʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - r in “chiffrer” becomes s in “chiffres”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26334, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chiffrer is recorded at frequency rank #24,900, classified as averb, pronounced \ʃi.fʁe\. chiffres is at rank #1,434, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃifʁ\.

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 26334, this pair ranks #335,647 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of chiffrer vs chiffres

Shared letters: cefhir. Private to "chiffrer": -. Private to "chiffres": s.

"chiffrer" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCCVC  ·  "chiffres" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chiffrercchiffrer · chfifrer · chhiffrer · chifferr · chiffrerr · chiffrrer · chifrer · chifrfer
  • chiffrescchiffres · chfifres · chhiffres · chiffers · chiffress · chiffrres · chiffrse · chifres

Frequency comparison

chiffrer#24,900
chiffres#1,434

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chiffrer" and "chiffres" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "chiffrer" is a verb and "chiffres" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "chiffrer" or "chiffres"?
"chiffres" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,434 in our French list, against #24,900 for "chiffrer". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering chiffrer vs chiffres

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “chiffrer”; for a noun, it's “chiffres”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “chiffrer” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list