# shall vs sham

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### shall
*verb · IPA /ʃæl/ · frequency rank #1,003*
Used before a verb to indicate the simple future tense in the first person singular or plural.

### sham
*adjective · IPA /ʃæm/ · frequency rank #16,126*
Intended to deceive; false.

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