Which to use
“flying” and “shades” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,936
- “flying” frequency rank
- #31,790
- “shades” frequency rank
- 55726
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | flying | shades |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partizip Präsens (present participle) des Verbs fly | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs shade |
Letter map: flying vs shades
Shared letters muted; letters that set flying and shades apart highlighted. No shared letter run. flying (CCVVCC) and shades (CCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Pair insight - flying / shades
flying and shades are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 6 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55726, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
flying is recorded at frequency rank #23,936, classified as averb, pronounced […]. shades is at rank #31,790, tagged as averb, pronounced […].
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 55726, this pair ranks #968,190 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of flying vs shades
Shared letters: none. Private to "flying": fgilny. Private to "shades": adehs.
"flying" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC · "shades" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "flying" for "shades" ever safe?
Frequency check: "flying" vs "shades" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "flying" and "shades".
- Full dictionary entry for "flying" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "shades" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #968,190 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "flying" and "shades" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs shades". 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 #968,190 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.