Which to use
“choke” and “chose” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,824
- “choke” frequency rank
- #2,719
- “chose” frequency rank
- 13543
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | choke | chose |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To be unable to breathe because of obstruction of the windpipe (for instance food or other objects that go down the wrong way, or fumes or particles in the air that cause the throat to constrict). | simple past of choose |
Where the eye mixes choke and chose
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: choke vs chose
A purely visual mix-up. choke (/t͡ʃəʊk/) and chose (/t͡ʃəʊz/) 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 a single letter - k in “choke” becomes s in “chose”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13543, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
choke is recorded at frequency rank #10,824, classified as averb, pronounced /t͡ʃəʊk/. chose is at rank #2,719, tagged as averb, pronounced /t͡ʃəʊz/.
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 13543, this pair ranks #475,183 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of choke vs chose
Shared letters: ceho. Private to "choke": k. Private to "chose": s.
"choke" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "chose" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "choke" and "chose" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "choke" or "chose" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "choke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chose" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #475,183 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "choke" and "chose" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "choke vs crone". 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 #475,183 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.