Which to use
“short” and “shows” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,751
- “short” frequency rank
- #8,130
- “shows” frequency rank
- 19881
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | short | shows |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs shorten | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs show |
Letter map: short vs shows
Shared letters muted; letters that set short and shows apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Pair insight - short / shows
short and shows 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 19881, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
short is recorded at frequency rank #11,751, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃɔːɐ̯t]. shows is at rank #8,130, tagged as averb, pronounced […].
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 19881, this pair ranks #1,903,618 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of short vs shows
Shared letters: hos. Private to "short": rt. Private to "shows": w.
"short" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "shows" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "short" and "shows" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "short" or "shows"?
What to do next
You've compared "short" and "shows". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "short" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "shows" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,903,618 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "short" and "shows" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "short vs shut". 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 #1,903,618 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.