showsvsspotsConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#8,130
“shows” frequency rank
#24,933
“spots” frequency rank
33063
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature shows spots
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs show 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs spot

Letter map: shows vs spots

Shared letters muted; letters that set shows and spots apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

5 ch
shows
5 ch
spots

Pair insight - shows / spots

shows and spots 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 33063, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

shows is recorded at frequency rank #8,130, classified as averb, pronounced […]. spots is at rank #24,933, 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 33063, this pair ranks #1,694,074 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of shows vs spots

Shared letters: os. Private to "shows": hw. Private to "spots": pt.

"shows" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "spots" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • showshsows · shhows · shosw · showss · showws · shwos · sohws · sshows
  • spotssopts · spost · spotss · spotts · sppots · sptos · sspots

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "shows" and "spots" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "shows" vs "spots" - which ranks higher?
"shows" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,130 in our German list, against #24,933 for "spots". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "shows" vs "spots" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "shows" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "spots" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,694,074 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "shows" and "spots" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puzzles vs spots". 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 #1,694,074 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