# Shen vs stern

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### Shen
*name · IPA /ˈʃɛn/ · frequency rank #21,063*
A surname.

### stern
*adjective · IPA /stɜːn/ · frequency rank #8,356*
Having a hardness and severity of nature or manner.

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