Which to use
“shut” is a verb and “sort” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #47,728
- “shut” frequency rank
- #39,634
- “sort” frequency rank
- 87362
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shut | sort |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | schließen | eine schwarze Farbe habend |
Where the eye mixes shut and sort
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. shut (CCVC) and sort (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: shut vs sort
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: shut is [ʃʌt] while sort is [soɒ̯d]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 87362, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shut is recorded at frequency rank #47,728, classified as averb, pronounced [ʃʌt]. sort is at rank #39,634, tagged as anadj, pronounced [soɒ̯d].
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 87362, this pair ranks #81,385 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of shut vs sort
Shared letters: st. Private to "shut": hu. Private to "sort": or.
"shut" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "sort" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "shut" and "sort" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "shut" vs "sort" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "shut" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sort" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #81,385 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shut" and "sort" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schütt 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 #81,385 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.