charvsChoyWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: char is a verb, Choy is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“char” is a verb and “Choy” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,585
“char” frequency rank
#43,082
“Choy” frequency rank
58667
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature char Choy
Definition To burn something to charcoal; to be burnt to charcoal. A surname from Korean or Cantonese.

Letter map: char vs Choy

Shared letters muted; letters that set char and Choy apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. char (CCVC) and Choy (CCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
char
4 ch
Choy

Grammar separator: char vs Choy

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: char is averb and Choyaname. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58667, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

char is recorded at frequency rank #15,585, classified as averb, pronounced /t͡ʃɑː/. Choy is at rank #43,082, tagged as aname.

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 58667, this pair ranks #111,083 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of char vs Choy

Shared letters: ch. Private to "char": ar. Private to "Choy": oy.

"char" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "Choy" · 4 letters · shape CCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • char ← cahr · cchar · charr · chhar · chra · hcar
  • Choy ← cchoy · chhoy · choyy · chyo · cohy · hcoy

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "char" for "Choy" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "char" is a verb and "Choy" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "char" vs "Choy" - which ranks higher?
"char" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,585 in our English list, against #43,082 for "Choy". 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 "char" and "Choy". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "char" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Choy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #111,083 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "char" and "Choy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Choy vs cuny". 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 #111,083 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