Which to use
“sale” and “share” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,110
- “sale” frequency rank
- #642
- “share” frequency rank
- 1752
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sale | share |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An exchange of goods or services for currency or credit. | A portion of something, especially a portion given or allotted to someone. |
Where the eye mixes sale and share
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. sale (/seːl/) and share (/ʃɛə/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1752, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sale is recorded at frequency rank #1,110, classified as anoun, pronounced /seːl/. share is at rank #642, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ʃɛə/.
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 1752, this pair ranks #526,739 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sale vs share
Shared letters: aes. Private to "sale": l. Private to "share": hr.
"sale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "share" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV