chainvschavoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“chain” and “chavo” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#42,879
“chain” frequency rank
#17,376
“chavo” frequency rank
60255
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chain chavo
Definition Cadena. Ser humano de corta edad, en especial el que no ha llegado a la pubertad.

Where the eye mixes chain and chavo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
chain
5 ch
chavo

Look-alike desk: chain vs chavo

A purely visual mix-up. chain (/t͡ʃeɪn/) and chavo ([ˈt͡ʃaβ̞o]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60255, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chain is recorded at frequency rank #42,879, classified as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃeɪn/. chavo is at rank #17,376, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt͡ʃaβ̞o].

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 60255, this pair ranks #59,588 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of chain vs chavo

Shared letters: ach. Private to "chain": in. Private to "chavo": ov.

"chain" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC  ·  "chavo" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chaincahin · cchain · chainn · chani · chhain · hcain
  • chavocahvo · cchavo · chabo · chaov · chavvo · chhavo · chvao · hcavo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "chain" and "chavo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/t͡ʃeɪn/ versus [ˈt͡ʃaβ̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "chain" or "chavo" show up more?
"chavo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,376 in our Spanish list, against #42,879 for "chain". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "chain" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "chavo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #59,588 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "chain" and "chavo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chain vs coin". 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 #59,588 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list