Which to use
“choir” is a verb and “clair” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,708
- “choir” frequency rank
- #1,086
- “clair” frequency rank
- 40794
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | choir | clair |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tomber. | Qui a l’éclat du jour, de la lumière. |
Where the eye mixes choir and clair
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: choir vs clair
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: choir is \ʃwaʁ\ while clair is \klɛʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40794, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
choir is recorded at frequency rank #39,708, classified as averb, pronounced \ʃwaʁ\. clair is at rank #1,086, tagged as anadj, pronounced \klɛʁ\.
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 40794, this pair ranks #237,848 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of choir vs clair
Shared letters: cir. Private to "choir": ho. Private to "clair": al.
"choir" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "clair" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "choir" and "clair" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "choir" vs "clair" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "choir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clair" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #237,848 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "choir" and "clair" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cheik vs choir". 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 #237,848 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.