ShowvsspotWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Show” and “spot” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,333
“Show” frequency rank
#9,457
“spot” frequency rank
10790
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Show spot
Definition Vorführung eines (großen) Unterhaltungsprogramms vor Publikum (beispielsweise im Theater oder Varieté; oft in Fernsehen oder Radio übertragen), teilweise mit Informationscharakter ein kleiner runder Fleck, der sich in Farbe oder Beschaffenheit von der Umgebung absetzt

Where the eye mixes Show and spot

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

4 ch
Show
4 ch
spot

Visual trap between Show and spot

A purely visual mix-up. Show ([ʃɔʊ̯]) and spot ([spɒt]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10790, 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]. spot is at rank #9,457, tagged as anoun, pronounced [spɒt].

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 10790, this pair ranks #1,973,299 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Show vs spot

Shared letters: os. Private to "Show": hw. Private to "spot": pt.

"Show" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "spot" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Showhsow · shhow · showw · shwo · sohw · sshow
  • spotsopt · sppot · spto · sspot

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Show" and "spot" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ʃɔʊ̯] versus [spɒt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Show" or "spot" show up more?
"Show" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,333 in our German list, against #9,457 for "spot". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Show" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "spot" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,973,299 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Show" and "spot" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Späth vs spot". 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 #1,973,299 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