caravschaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“cara” and “cha” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#28,125
“cara” frequency rank
#18,200
“cha” frequency rank
46325
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cara cha
Definition Freund Vater

Where the eye mixes cara and cha

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
cara
3 ch
cha

Why the eye confuses cara with cha

A purely visual mix-up. cara ([karə]) and cha ([t͡ɕaː˧˧]) 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 46325, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cara is recorded at frequency rank #28,125, classified as anoun, pronounced [karə]. cha is at rank #18,200, tagged as anoun, pronounced [t͡ɕaː˧˧].

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 46325, this pair ranks #1,322,964 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cara vs cha

Shared letters: ac. Private to "cara": r. Private to "cha": h.

"cara" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "cha" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • caraacra · caar · carra · ccara · craa

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cara" and "cha" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([karə] versus [t͡ɕaː˧˧]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cara" vs "cha" - which ranks higher?
"cha" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,200 in our German list, against #28,125 for "cara". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cara" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cha" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,322,964 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cara" and "cha" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cara vs carr". 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 #1,322,964 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list