shavsSojaWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: sha is a verb, Soja is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sha” is a verb and “Soja” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#40,842
“sha” frequency rank
#18,068
“Soja” frequency rank
58910
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sha Soja
Definition eine Flüssigkeit aufnehmen; trinken Nutzpflanze mit Hülsenfrüchten: Sojabohnen

Where the eye mixes sha and Soja

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
sha
4 ch
Soja

Visual trap between sha and Soja

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sha is [ʃáː] while Soja is [ˈzoːja]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58910, 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]. Soja is at rank #18,068, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈzoːja].

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 58910, this pair ranks #844,655 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sha vs Soja

Shared letters: as. Private to "sha": h. Private to "Soja": jo.

"sha" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "Soja" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Sojaosja · sjoa · soaj · sojja · ssoja

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sha" for "Soja" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sha" is a verb and "Soja" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "sha" or "Soja" show up more?
"Soja" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,068 in our German list, against #40,842 for "sha". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sha" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Soja" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #844,655 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sha" and "Soja" 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 #844,655 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list