chato vs chau, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#4,619
“chato” frequency rank: #49,350
“chau” frequency rank: 53969
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	chato	chau
Definition	achatado	até logo; adeus!

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set chato and chau apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

chato

4 ch

chau

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: chato is /ˈʃa.tu/ while chau is /ʃaʊ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53969, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chato is recorded at frequency rank #4,619, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈʃa.tu/. 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 53969, this pair ranks #11,653 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of chato vs chau

Shared letters: ach. Private to "chato": ot. Private to "chau": u.

"chato" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "chau" · 4 letters · shape CCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

chato ← cahto · cchato · chaot · chatto · chhato · chtao · hcato
chau ← cahu · cchau · chhau · chua · hcau

Frequency comparison

chato#4,619

chau#49,350

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chato" and "chau" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "chato" is an adjective and "chau" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "chato" or "chau"?

"chato" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,619 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 chato vs chau

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “chato”; for an intj, it's “chau”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “chato” entry
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