chaivschaseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#37,430
“chai” frequency rank
#20,547
“chase” frequency rank
57977
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chai chase
Definition Gefäß für Flüssigkeiten oder Ähnliches; Flasche die Jagd, die Hetzjagd

Where the eye mixes chai and chase

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
chai
5 ch
chase

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. chai ([t͡ɕaːj˧˧]) and chase ([tʃeɪs]) 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 57977, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chai is recorded at frequency rank #37,430, classified as anoun, pronounced [t͡ɕaːj˧˧]. chase is at rank #20,547, tagged as anoun, pronounced [tʃeɪs].

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 57977, this pair ranks #880,358 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of chai vs chase

Shared letters: ach. Private to "chai": i. Private to "chase": es.

"chai" · 4 letters · shape CCVV  ·  "chase" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chaicahi · cchai · chhai · chia · hcai
  • chasecchase · chaes · chasse · chhase · chsae · hcase

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chai" and "chase" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([t͡ɕaːj˧˧] versus [tʃeɪs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "chai" or "chase"?
"chase" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,547 in our German list, against #37,430 for "chai". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "chai" and "chase". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "chai" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "chase" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #880,358 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "chai" and "chase" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chai vs clair". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list