chãovschauWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: chão is a noun, chau is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“chão” is a noun and “chau” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,140
“chão” frequency rank
#49,350
“chau” frequency rank
50490
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chão chau
Definition corda até logo; adeus!

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set chão and chau apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
chão
4 ch
chau

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: chão is anoun and chauanintj. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50490, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chão is recorded at frequency rank #1,140, classified as anoun. chau is at rank #49,350, tagged as anintj, pronounced /ʃaʊ/.

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 50490, this pair ranks #14,466 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of chão vs chau

Shared letters: ch. Private to "chão": . Private to "chau": au.

"chão" · 4 letters · shape CCVV  ·  "chau" · 4 letters · shape CCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chaucahu · cchau · chhau · chua · hcau

Frequency comparison

chão#1,140
chau#49,350

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chão" and "chau" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "chão" is a noun and "chau" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "chão" or "chau"?
"chão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,140 in our Portuguese list, against #49,350 for "chau". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering chão vs chau

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “chão”; for an intj, it's “chau”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “chão” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list