chasesvsclassWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#21,745
“chases” frequency rank
#430
“class” frequency rank
22175
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chases class
Definition plural of chase A group, collection, category or set sharing characteristics or attributes.

Where the eye mixes chases and class

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
chases
5 ch
class

Why the eye confuses chases with class

A purely visual mix-up. chases (/ˈt͡ʃeɪsɪz/) and class (/klɑːs/) 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 22175, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chases is recorded at frequency rank #21,745, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈt͡ʃeɪsɪz/. class is at rank #430, tagged as anoun, pronounced /klɑːs/.

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 22175, this pair ranks #418,503 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of chases vs class

Shared letters: acs. Private to "chases": eh. Private to "class": l.

"chases" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "class" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chasescahses · cchases · chaess · chasess · chasses · chhases · chsaes · hcases
  • classcalss · cclass · clas · cllass · clsas · lcass

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chases" and "class" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈt͡ʃeɪsɪz/ versus /klɑːs/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary English text, does "chases" or "class" show up more?
"class" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #430 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.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "chases" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "class" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #418,503 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "chases" and "class" 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 #418,503 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