Which to use
“causing” and “chasing” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,823
- “causing” frequency rank
- #5,864
- “chasing” frequency rank
- 8687
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | causing | chasing |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of cause | present participle and gerund of chase |
Where the eye mixes causing and chasing
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: causing vs chasing
A purely visual mix-up. causing (/ˈkɔːzɪŋ/) and chasing (/ˈt͡ʃeɪsɪŋ/) 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 8687, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
causing is recorded at frequency rank #2,823, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈkɔːzɪŋ/. chasing is at rank #5,864, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈt͡ʃeɪsɪŋ/.
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 8687, this pair ranks #501,210 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of causing vs chasing
Shared letters: acgins. Private to "causing": u. Private to "chasing": h.
"causing" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC · "chasing" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "causing" and "chasing" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "causing" or "chasing" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "causing" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chasing" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #501,210 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "causing" and "chasing" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chaining vs chasing". 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 #501,210 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.