Which to use
“cate” and “chale” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,559
- “cate” frequency rank
- #34,937
- “chale” frequency rank
- 73496
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cate | chale |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Suspenso de un test, examen o asignatura. | Persona de origen chino o con rasgos orientales avecindada en México. |
Where the eye mixes cate and chale
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cate runs 4 letters (CVCV) against chale's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses cate with chale
A purely visual mix-up. cate ([ˈkat̪e]) and chale ([ˈt͡ʃale]) 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 73496, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cate is recorded at frequency rank #38,559, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkat̪e]. chale is at rank #34,937, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt͡ʃale].
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 73496, this pair ranks #23,174 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cate vs chale
Shared letters: ace. Private to "cate": t. Private to "chale": hl.
"cate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "chale" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cate" for "chale" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cate" vs "chale" - which ranks higher?
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 "cate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chale" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #23,174 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cate" and "chale" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cate vs catre". 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 #23,174 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.