shamevsspaceTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#43,491
“shame” frequency rank
#7,530
“space” frequency rank
51021
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature shame space
Definition jemanden beschämen kurz für urban open space – Freiraum

Letter map: shame vs space

Shared letters muted; letters that set shame and space apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

5 ch
shame
5 ch
space

Grammar separator: shame vs space

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: shame is averb and spaceanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51021, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

shame is recorded at frequency rank #43,491, classified as averb, pronounced […]. space is at rank #7,530, tagged as anoun, pronounced [speɪs].

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 51021, this pair ranks #1,151,513 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of shame vs space

Shared letters: aes. Private to "shame": hm. Private to "space": cp.

"shame" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "space" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • shamehsame · sahme · shaem · shamme · shhame · shmae · sshame
  • spacepsace · sapce · spacce · spaec · spcae · sppace · sspace

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "shame" and "space" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "shame" is a verb and "space" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "shame" vs "space" - which ranks higher?
"space" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,530 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.

Useful next steps

Pair "shame" vs "space" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "shame" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "space" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,151,513 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "shame" and "space" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs shame". 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 #1,151,513 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