cafévschaseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,342
“café” frequency rank
#3,354
“chase” frequency rank
13696
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature café chase
Definition A coffee shop; an establishment selling coffee and sometimes other non-alcoholic beverages, simple meals or snacks, with a facility to consume them on the premises. The act of one who chases another; a pursuit.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set café and chase apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
café
5 ch
chase

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

café and chase form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13696, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

café is recorded at frequency rank #10,342, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˌkæˈfeɪ/. chase is at rank #3,354, tagged as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃeɪs/.

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 13696, this pair ranks #474,329 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

café#10,342
chase#3,354

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "café" and "chase" be used interchangeably?
No, "café" and "chase" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering café vs chase

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “café” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list