Which to use
“gâche” is a noun and “gaucher” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,895
- “gâche” frequency rank
- #17,718
- “gaucher” frequency rank
- 33613
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gâche | gaucher |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partie d’une serrure dans laquelle le pêne s’insère pour maintenir une porte fermée. | Qui se sert habituellement de la main gauche au lieu de la main droite. |
Where the eye mixes gâche and gaucher
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. gâche runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against gaucher's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses gâche with gaucher
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gâche is \ɡɑʃ\ while gaucher is \ɡo.ʃe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33613, 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\. gaucher is at rank #17,718, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɡo.ʃe\.
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 33613, this pair ranks #289,454 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gâche vs gaucher
Shared letters: cegh. Private to "gâche": â. Private to "gaucher": aru.
"gâche" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "gaucher" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- gaucher ← agucher · gacuher · gauccher · gaucehr · gaucherr · gauchher · gauchre · gauhcer
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gâche" for "gaucher" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "gâche" or "gaucher" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "gâche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gaucher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #289,454 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gâche" and "gaucher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gabe vs gâche". 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 #289,454 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.