shamevsshareWhat's the difference?

By · Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org ·

Which to use

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

#43,491
“shame” frequency rank
#22,140
“share” frequency rank
65631
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature shame share
Definition jemanden beschämen teilen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set shame and share apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
shame
5 ch
share

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

shame and share are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by a single letter - m in “shame” becomes r in “share”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65631, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

shame is recorded at frequency rank #43,491, classified as averb, pronounced […]. share is at rank #22,140, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃɛər].

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 65631, this pair ranks #600,251 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of shame vs share

Shared letters: aehs. Private to "shame": m. Private to "share": r.

"shame" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "share" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • shame ← hsame · sahme · shaem · shamme · shhame · shmae · sshame
  • share ← hsare · sahre · shaer · sharre · shhare · shrae · sshare

Frequency comparison

shame#43,491
share#22,140

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "shame" and "share" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by a single letter - m in “shame” becomes r in “share”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "shame" or "share"?
"share" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,140 in our German list, against #43,491 for "shame". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering shame vs share

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list