Which to use
“Show” is a noun and “so” is a conjunction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,333
- “Show” frequency rank
- #28
- “so” frequency rank
- 1361
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Show | so |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Vorführung eines (großen) Unterhaltungsprogramms vor Publikum (beispielsweise im Theater oder Varieté; oft in Fernsehen oder Radio übertragen), teilweise mit Informationscharakter | drückt einen Vergleich aus |
Where the eye mixes Show and so
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Show and so
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Show is [ʃɔʊ̯] while so is [zoː]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs conjunction), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1361, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Show is recorded at frequency rank #1,333, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃɔʊ̯]. so is at rank #28, tagged as aconj, pronounced [zoː].
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 1361, this pair ranks #2,004,482 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Show vs so
Shared letters: os. Private to "Show": hw. Private to "so": -.
"Show" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "so" · 2 letters · shape CV
Known mistypes of this pair
- Show ← hsow · shhow · showw · shwo · sohw · sshow
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Show" and "so" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Show" or "so" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Show" and "so" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Show" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "so" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,004,482 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Show" and "so" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seg vs so". 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 #2,004,482 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.