Which to use
“chavos” and “claves” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,941
- “chavos” frequency rank
- #5,474
- “claves” frequency rank
- 31415
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chavos | claves |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (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. | Forma del plural de clave. |
Where the eye mixes chavos and claves
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. chavos and claves follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses chavos with claves
A purely visual mix-up. chavos ([ˈt͡ʃaβ̞os]) and claves ([ˈklaβ̞es]) 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 31415, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chavos is recorded at frequency rank #25,941, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈt͡ʃaβ̞os]. claves is at rank #5,474, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈklaβ̞es].
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 31415, this pair ranks #207,186 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of chavos vs claves
Shared letters: acsv. Private to "chavos": ho. Private to "claves": el.
"chavos" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "claves" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "chavos" and "claves" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "chavos" or "claves"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "chavos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "claves" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #207,186 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chavos" and "claves" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chavos vs cholos". 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 #207,186 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.