Which to use
“cayos” and “chavos” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,871
- “cayos” frequency rank
- #25,941
- “chavos” frequency rank
- 68812
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cayos | chavos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forma del plural de cayo. | (Sambucus ebulus) Hierba de la familia de las caprifoliáceas, crece hasta dos metros con tallos erectos; el fruto es una baya tóxica, de color negro, pequeña y globosa de 5 a 6mm de diámetro. |
Where the eye mixes cayos and chavos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cayos runs 5 letters (CVVVC) against chavos's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses cayos with chavos
A purely visual mix-up. cayos ([ˈkaʝos]) and chavos ([ˈt͡ʃaβ̞os]) 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 68812, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cayos is recorded at frequency rank #42,871, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈkaʝos]. chavos is at rank #25,941, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt͡ʃaβ̞os].
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 68812, this pair ranks #33,557 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cayos vs chavos
Shared letters: acos. Private to "cayos": y. Private to "chavos": hv.
"cayos" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "chavos" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cayos" and "chavos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "cayos" or "chavos"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cayos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chavos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #33,557 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cayos" and "chavos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cayos vs chamos". 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 #33,557 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.