checkvschefsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#12,329
“check” frequency rank
#29,974
“chefs” frequency rank
42303
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature check chefs
Definition Cheque. Forma del plural de chef.

Where the eye mixes check and chefs

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

5 ch
check
5 ch
chefs

Why the eye confuses check with chefs

A purely visual mix-up. check (/t͡ʃɛk/) and chefs ([ˈt͡ʃefs]) 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 42303, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

check is recorded at frequency rank #12,329, classified as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃɛk/. chefs is at rank #29,974, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt͡ʃefs].

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 42303, this pair ranks #148,983 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of check vs chefs

Shared letters: ceh. Private to "check": k. Private to "chefs": fs.

"check" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "chefs" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • checkccheck · cehck · chcek · checck · checkk · chekc · chheck · hceck
  • chefscchefs · cehfs · cheffs · chefss · chesf · chfes · chhefs · hcefs

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "check" for "chefs" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/t͡ʃɛk/ versus [ˈt͡ʃefs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "check" vs "chefs" - which ranks higher?
"check" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,329 in our Spanish list, against #29,974 for "chefs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "check" and "chefs" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "check" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "chefs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #148,983 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "check" and "chefs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chefs vs chief". 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 #148,983 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