che vs cu, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#11,600
“che” frequency rank: #4,716
“cu” frequency rank: 16316
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	che	cu
Definition	para expressar desprezo ou que se duvida da verdade do que se esta a ouvir	extremidade do intestino grosso; ânus

Letter map: che vs cu

Shared letters muted; letters that set che and cu apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch

che

2 ch

Grammar separator: che vs cu

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: che is anintj and cuanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16316, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

che is recorded at frequency rank #11,600, classified as anintj. cu is at rank #4,716, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈku/.

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 16316, this pair ranks #55,246 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of che vs cu

Shared letters: c. Private to "che": eh. Private to "cu": u.

"che" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "cu" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "che" and "cu" mean the same thing in a sentence?

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

Which is more common, "che" or "cu"?

"cu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,716 in our Portuguese list, against #11,600 for "che". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "che" vs "cu" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

Full dictionary entry for "che" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "cu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #55,246 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"che" and "cu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "che vs chess". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #55,246 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.