chatovscravoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: chato is a adjective, cravo is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#4,619
“chato” frequency rank
#18,554
“cravo” frequency rank
23173
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chato cravo
Definition achatado a planta craveiro; a flor do craveiro

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
chato
5 ch
cravo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: chato is /ˈʃa.tu/ while cravo is /ˈkɾa.vu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23173, 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/. cravo is at rank #18,554, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɾa.vu/.

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 23173, this pair ranks #46,706 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of chato vs cravo

Shared letters: aco. Private to "chato": ht. Private to "cravo": rv.

"chato" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "cravo" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chatocahto · cchato · chaot · chatto · chhato · chtao · hcato
  • cravocarvo · ccravo · craov · cravvo · crravo · crvao · rcavo

Frequency comparison

chato#4,619
cravo#18,554

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chato" and "cravo" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "chato" is an adjective and "cravo" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "chato" or "cravo"?
"chato" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,619 in our Portuguese list, against #18,554 for "cravo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering chato vs cravo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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