Which to use
“sha” and “shake” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,842
- “sha” frequency rank
- #24,125
- “shake” frequency rank
- 64967
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sha | shake |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine Flüssigkeit aufnehmen; trinken | jemanden oder etwas schütteln |
Where the eye mixes sha and shake
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. sha runs 3 letters (CCV) against shake's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses sha with shake
A purely visual mix-up. sha ([ʃáː]) and shake ([ʃeɪk]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “sha” sits inside “shake”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64967, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sha is recorded at frequency rank #40,842, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃáː]. shake is at rank #24,125, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃeɪk].
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 64967, this pair ranks #623,102 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sha vs shake
Shared letters: ahs. Private to "sha": -. Private to "shake": ek.
"sha" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "shake" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- shake ← hsake · sahke · shaek · shakke · shhake · shkae · sshake
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sha" and "shake" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "sha" or "shake" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sha" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "shake" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #623,102 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sha" and "shake" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seg vs sha". 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 #623,102 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.