sha vs shut, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“sha” and “shut” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#40,842
“sha” frequency rank: #47,728
“shut” frequency rank: 88570
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	sha	shut
Definition	eine Flüssigkeit aufnehmen; trinken	schließen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sha and shut apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

sha

4 ch

shut

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. sha ([ʃáː]) and shut ([ʃʌt]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88570, 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]. shut is at rank #47,728, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃʌt].

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 88570, this pair ranks #66,876 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sha vs shut

Shared letters: hs. Private to "sha": a. Private to "shut": tu.

"sha" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "shut" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

shut ← shhut · shtu · shutt · sshut · suht

Frequency comparison

sha#40,842

shut#47,728

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sha" and "shut" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently ([ʃáː] versus [ʃʌt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "sha" or "shut"?

"sha" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,842 in our German list, against #47,728 for "shut". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sha vs shut

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 “sha” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable