Which to use
“shoes” is a noun and “spies” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,277
- “shoes” frequency rank
- #43,504
- “spies” frequency rank
- 89781
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shoes | spies |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Plural des Substantivs shoe | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs speisen |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set shoes and spies apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: shoes is [ʃuːz] while spies is [ʃpiːs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 89781, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shoes is recorded at frequency rank #46,277, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃuːz]. spies is at rank #43,504, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃpiːs].
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 89781, this pair ranks #53,694 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of shoes vs spies
Shared letters: es. Private to "shoes": ho. Private to "spies": ip.
"shoes" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "spies" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "shoes" and "spies" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "shoes" or "spies"?
Remembering shoes vs spies
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “shoes”; for a verb, it's “spies”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “shoes” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable