shamevsskateWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#43,491
“shame” frequency rank
#45,585
“skate” frequency rank
89076
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature shame skate
Definition jemanden beschämen 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs skaten

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set shame and skate apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
shame
5 ch
skate

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

shame and skate 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 89076, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

shame is recorded at frequency rank #43,491, classified as averb, pronounced […]. skate is at rank #45,585, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈskɛɪ̯tə].

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 89076, this pair ranks #61,215 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of shame vs skate

Shared letters: aes. Private to "shame": hm. Private to "skate": kt.

"shame" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "skate" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • shamehsame · sahme · shaem · shamme · shhame · shmae · sshame
  • skatesakte · skaet · skatte · skkate · sktae · sskate

Frequency comparison

shame#43,491
skate#45,585

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "shame" and "skate" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, 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 "skate"?
"shame" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #43,491 in our German list, against #45,585 for "skate". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering shame vs skate

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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list