Which to use
“machine” is a noun and “shame” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,337
- “machine” frequency rank
- #43,491
- “shame” frequency rank
- 55828
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | machine | shame |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ein Apparat mit vielen beweglichen Teilen; gestaltet um eine Aufgabe zu erfüllen. | jemanden beschämen |
Letter map: machine vs shame
Shared letters muted; letters that set machine and shame apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. machine runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against shame's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Grammar separator: machine vs shame
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: machine is anoun and shameaverb. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55828, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
machine is recorded at frequency rank #12,337, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. shame is at rank #43,491, 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 55828, this pair ranks #964,079 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of machine vs shame
Shared letters: aehm. Private to "machine": cin. Private to "shame": s.
"machine" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "shame" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "machine" and "shame" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "machine" or "shame" show up more?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "machine" and "shame".
- Full dictionary entry for "machine" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "shame" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #964,079 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "machine" and "shame" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs shame". 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 #964,079 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.