Which to use
“shapes” and “share” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,284
- “shapes” frequency rank
- #642
- “share” frequency rank
- 7926
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shapes | share |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of shape | A portion of something, especially a portion given or allotted to someone. |
Where the eye mixes shapes and share
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses shapes with share
A purely visual mix-up. shapes (/ʃeɪps/) 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 7926, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shapes is recorded at frequency rank #7,284, classified as anoun, pronounced /ʃeɪps/. 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 7926, this pair ranks #504,937 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of shapes vs share
Shared letters: aehs. Private to "shapes": p. Private to "share": r.
"shapes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "share" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "shapes" and "share" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "shapes" or "share"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "shapes" and "share" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "shapes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "share" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #504,937 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shapes" and "share" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "shapely vs shapes". 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 #504,937 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.