chancevschaveWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,271
“chance” frequency rank
#1,329
“chave” frequency rank
2600
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chance chave
Definition possibilidade de algum acontecimento independente de intenção humana objeto usado para abrir e fechar uma fechadura, algemas ou cadeado

Letter map: chance vs chave

Shared letters muted; letters that set chance and chave apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

6 ch
chance
5 ch
chave

Pair insight - chance / chave

chance and chave are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2600, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chance is recorded at frequency rank #1,271, classified as anoun. 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 2600, this pair ranks #72,738 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of chance vs chave

Shared letters: aceh. Private to "chance": n. Private to "chave": v.

"chance" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "chave" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chancecahnce · cchance · chacne · chancce · chanec · channce · chhance · chnace
  • chavecahve · cchave · chaev · chavve · chhave · chvae · hcave

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "chance" for "chave" ever safe?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "chance" vs "chave" - which ranks higher?
"chance" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,271 in our Portuguese list, against #1,329 for "chave". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "chance" and "chave".

  • Full dictionary entry for "chance" 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 #72,738 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "chance" and "chave" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chau vs chave". 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 #72,738 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list