chasesvsclassesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#21,745
“chases” frequency rank
#1,749
“classes” frequency rank
23494
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chases classes
Definition plural of chase plural of class

Where the eye mixes chases and classes

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

6 ch
chases
7 ch
classes

Visual trap between chases and classes

A purely visual mix-up. chases (/ˈt͡ʃeɪsɪz/) and classes (/ˈklɑːsɪz/) 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 23494, 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/. classes is at rank #1,749, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈklɑːsɪz/.

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 23494, this pair ranks #408,854 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of chases vs classes

Shared letters: aces. Private to "chases": h. Private to "classes": l.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chasescahses · cchases · chaess · chasess · chasses · chhases · chsaes · hcases
  • classescalsses · cclasses · clases · clasess · classess · classse · cllasses · clsases

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "chases" for "classes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈt͡ʃeɪsɪz/ versus /ˈklɑːsɪz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "chases" or "classes"?
"classes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,749 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

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 "classes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #408,854 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "chases" and "classes" 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 #408,854 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