Which to use
“cham” and “chave” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,752
- “cham” frequency rank
- #1,329
- “chave” frequency rank
- 46081
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cham | chave |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | um certo tipo de autocrata | objeto usado para abrir e fechar uma fechadura, algemas ou cadeado |
Where the eye mixes cham and chave
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cham and chave
A purely visual mix-up. cham (/kæm/) and chave (/ˈʃa.vɨ/) 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 46081, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cham is recorded at frequency rank #44,752, classified as anoun, pronounced /kæm/. chave is at rank #1,329, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈʃa.vɨ/.
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 46081, this pair ranks #19,274 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cham vs chave
Shared letters: ach. Private to "cham": m. Private to "chave": ev.
"cham" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "chave" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cham" for "chave" ever safe?
Which is more common, "cham" or "chave"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "cham" and "chave" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cham" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chave" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #19,274 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cham" and "chave" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cham vs chau". 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 #19,274 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.