shitvsSkiTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#6,592
“shit” frequency rank
#5,880
“Ski” frequency rank
12472
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature shit Ski
Definition den Darm entleeren Gleitgerät zur Fortbewegung im Schnee oder Wasser

Where the eye mixes shit and Ski

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

4 ch
shit
3 ch
Ski

Why the eye confuses shit with Ski

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: shit is [ʃɪt] while Ski is [ʃiː]. 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 12472, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

shit is recorded at frequency rank #6,592, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃɪt]. Ski is at rank #5,880, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ʃiː].

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 12472, this pair ranks #1,963,992 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of shit vs Ski

Shared letters: is. Private to "shit": ht. Private to "Ski": k.

"shit" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "Ski" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • shithsit · shhit · shitt · shti · siht · sshit

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "shit" for "Ski" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "shit" is a verb and "Ski" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "shit" or "Ski"?
"Ski" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,880 in our German list, against #6,592 for "shit". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "shit" and "Ski" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "shit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ski" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,963,992 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "shit" and "Ski" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seg vs Ski". 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 #1,963,992 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