shavssolaConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#40,842
“sha” frequency rank
#46,998
“sola” frequency rank
87840
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sha sola
Definition eine Flüssigkeit aufnehmen; trinken Seezunge (Solea solea)

Where the eye mixes sha and sola

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. sha runs 3 letters (CCV) against sola's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
sha
4 ch
sola

Look-alike desk: sha vs sola

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sha is [ʃáː] while sola is [ˈsɔla]. 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 87840, 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]. sola is at rank #46,998, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈsɔla].

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 87840, this pair ranks #75,400 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sha vs sola

Shared letters: as. Private to "sha": h. Private to "sola": lo.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sola ← osla · sloa · soal · solla · ssola

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sha" and "sola" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sha" is a verb and "sola" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "sha" or "sola" show up more?
"sha" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,842 in our German list, against #46,998 for "sola". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "sola" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #75,400 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sha" and "sola" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sola vs sonar". 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 #75,400 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