Which to use
“char” and “chef” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,983
- “char” frequency rank
- #1,029
- “chef” frequency rank
- 33012
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | char | chef |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fuder, Fuhre, Karren, Wagen, Fuhrwerk, Förderwagen, Hund, Hunt, Laufkatze | gewerblich und versiert kochende Person |
Where the eye mixes char and chef
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: char vs chef
A purely visual mix-up. char ([ʃaʁ]) and chef ([ʃɛf]) 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 33012, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
char is recorded at frequency rank #31,983, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃaʁ]. chef is at rank #1,029, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃɛf].
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 33012, this pair ranks #1,695,180 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of char vs chef
Shared letters: ch. Private to "char": ar. Private to "chef": ef.
"char" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "chef" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "char" and "chef" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "char" or "chef"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "char" and "chef" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "char" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chef" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,695,180 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "char" and "chef" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "carr vs char". 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 #1,695,180 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.