changesvschasesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#783
“changes” frequency rank
#21,745
“chases” frequency rank
22528
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature changes chases
Definition plural of change plural of chase

Where the eye mixes changes and chases

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
changes
6 ch
chases

Why the eye confuses changes with chases

A purely visual mix-up. changes (/ˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒɪz/) and chases (/ˈt͡ʃeɪsɪz/) 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 22528, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

changes is recorded at frequency rank #783, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒɪz/. chases is at rank #21,745, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈt͡ʃeɪsɪz/.

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 22528, this pair ranks #415,913 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of changes vs chases

Shared letters: acehs. Private to "changes": gn. Private to "chases": -.

"changes" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "chases" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • changescahnges · cchanges · chagnes · chanegs · changess · changges · changse · channges
  • chasescahses · cchases · chaess · chasess · chasses · chhases · chsaes · hcases

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "changes" for "chases" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈt͡ʃeɪnd͡ʒɪz/ versus /ˈt͡ʃeɪsɪz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "changes" or "chases"?
"changes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #783 in our English list, against #21,745 for "chases". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "changes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "chases" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #415,913 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "changes" and "chases" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cates vs chases". 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 #415,913 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list