gâchevsgâchisWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“gâche” and “gâchis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#15,895
“gâche” frequency rank
#14,049
“gâchis” frequency rank
29944
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gâche gâchis
Definition Partie d’une serrure dans laquelle le pêne s’insère pour maintenir une porte fermée. Mortier fait de plâtre, de chaux, de ciment délayé avec de l’eau.

Where the eye mixes gâche and gâchis

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
gâche
6 ch
gâchis

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. gâche (\ɡɑʃ\) and gâchis (\ɡɑ.ʃi\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29944, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gâche is recorded at frequency rank #15,895, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡɑʃ\. gâchis is at rank #14,049, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡɑ.ʃi\.

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 29944, this pair ranks #313,489 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gâche vs gâchis

Shared letters: cghâ. Private to "gâche": e. Private to "gâchis": is.

"gâche" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "gâchis" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gâche" and "gâchis" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɡɑʃ\ versus \ɡɑ.ʃi\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gâche" or "gâchis"?
"gâchis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,049 in our French list, against #15,895 for "gâche". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list