chau vs chave, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#49,350
“chau” frequency rank: #1,329
“chave” frequency rank: 50679
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	chau	chave
Definition	até logo; adeus!	objeto usado para abrir e fechar uma fechadura, algemas ou cadeado

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch

chau

5 ch

chave

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: chau is /ʃaʊ/ while chave is /ˈʃa.vɨ/. 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 (intj vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50679, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chau is recorded at frequency rank #49,350, classified as anintj, pronounced /ʃaʊ/. 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 50679, this pair ranks #14,274 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of chau vs chave

Shared letters: ach. Private to "chau": u. Private to "chave": ev.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

chau ← cahu · cchau · chhau · chua · hcau
chave ← cahve · cchave · chaev · chavve · chhave · chvae · hcave

Frequency comparison

chau#49,350

chave#1,329

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

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

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

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

"chave" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,329 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 chau vs chave

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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