CesvschaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#35,690
“Ces” frequency rank
#18,200
“cha” frequency rank
53890
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ces cha
Definition Ton mit 495 Hz und alle Töne im Oktavabstand dazu, um einen Halbton vermindertes C Vater

Where the eye mixes Ces and cha

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
Ces
3 ch
cha

Look-alike desk: Ces vs cha

A purely visual mix-up. Ces ([t͡sɛs]) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53890, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ces is recorded at frequency rank #35,690, classified as anoun, pronounced [t͡sɛs]. 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 53890, this pair ranks #1,040,339 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Ces vs cha

Shared letters: c. Private to "Ces": es. Private to "cha": ah.

"Ces" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "cha" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Ces" and "cha" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([t͡sɛs] versus [t͡ɕaː˧˧]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Ces" or "cha" show up more?
"cha" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,200 in our German list, against #35,690 for "Ces". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Ces" and "cha" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ces" 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 #1,040,339 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ces" and "cha" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCS vs Ces". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,040,339 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