Which to use
“share” is a noun and “shared” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #642
- “share” frequency rank
- #2,128
- “shared” frequency rank
- 2770
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | share | shared |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A portion of something, especially a portion given or allotted to someone. | Used by multiple entities or for multiple purposes or in multiple ways. |
Where the eye mixes share and shared
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: share is /ʃɛə/ while shared is /ʃɛːd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “share” sits inside “shared”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2770, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
share is recorded at frequency rank #642, classified as anoun, pronounced /ʃɛə/. shared is at rank #2,128, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ʃɛːd/.
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 2770, this pair ranks #524,089 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of share vs shared
Shared letters: aehrs. Private to "share": -. Private to "shared": d.
"share" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "shared" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC