Which to use
“chave” and “chávena” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,329
- “chave” frequency rank
- #45,750
- “chávena” frequency rank
- 47079
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chave | chávena |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | objeto usado para abrir e fechar uma fechadura, algemas ou cadeado | taça pequena, com asa, onde se servem bebidas quentes, principalmente café e chá |
Where the eye mixes chave and chávena
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses chave with chávena
A purely visual mix-up. chave (/ˈʃa.vɨ/) and chávena (/ˈʃa.vɨ.nɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47079, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chave is recorded at frequency rank #1,329, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈʃa.vɨ/. chávena is at rank #45,750, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈʃa.vɨ.nɐ/.
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 47079, this pair ranks #18,197 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of chave vs chávena
Shared letters: acehv. Private to "chave": -. Private to "chávena": ná.
"chave" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "chávena" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- chave ← cahve · cchave · chaev · chavve · chhave · chvae · hcave
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "chave" and "chávena" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "chave" or "chávena" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "chave" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chávena" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #18,197 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chave" and "chávena" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chacina vs chávena". 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 #18,197 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.