chivscruWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: chi is a pronoun, cru is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“chi” is a pronoun and “cru” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,328
“chi” frequency rank
#14,555
“cru” frequency rank
24883
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chi cru
Definition quem que não foi cozido ou não foi cozido o suficiente

Letter map: chi vs cru

Shared letters muted; letters that set chi and cru apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
chi
3 ch
cru

Grammar separator: chi vs cru

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: chi is apronoun and cruanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24883, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chi is recorded at frequency rank #10,328, classified as apron. cru is at rank #14,555, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈkɾu/.

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 24883, this pair ranks #44,578 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of chi vs cru

Shared letters: c. Private to "chi": hi. Private to "cru": ru.

"chi" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "cru" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "chi" and "cru" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "chi" is a pronoun and "cru" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "chi" vs "cru" - which ranks higher?
"chi" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,328 in our Portuguese list, against #14,555 for "cru". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "chi" and "cru".

  • Full dictionary entry for "chi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cru" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #44,578 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "chi" and "cru" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chau vs cru". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #44,578 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list