# shades vs shale

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### shades
*noun · IPA /ʃeɪdz/ · frequency rank #7,177*
plural of shade

### shale
*noun · IPA /ʃeɪl/ · frequency rank #11,460*
A shell, scale or husk; a cod or pod.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shades-vs-shale