cheio vs chino, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“cheio” and “chino” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,424
“cheio” frequency rank: #35,485
“chino” frequency rank: 36909
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	cheio	chino
Definition	completamente preenchido; que contém o máximo que pode conter	chinês

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cheio and chino apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

cheio

5 ch

chino

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cheio (/ˈʃɐj.u/) and chino (/ˈtʃi.no/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36909, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cheio is recorded at frequency rank #1,424, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈʃɐj.u/. chino is at rank #35,485, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈtʃi.no/.

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 36909, this pair ranks #29,804 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cheio vs chino

Shared letters: chio. Private to "cheio": e. Private to "chino": n.

"cheio" · 5 letters · shape CCVVV · "chino" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

cheio ← ccheio · cehio · cheoi · chheio · chieo · hceio
chino ← cchino · chhino · chinno · chion · chnio · cihno · hcino

Frequency comparison

cheio#1,424

chino#35,485

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cheio" and "chino" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ˈʃɐj.u/ versus /ˈtʃi.no/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "cheio" or "chino"?

"cheio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,424 in our Portuguese list, against #35,485 for "chino". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering cheio vs chino

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cheio” entry
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