ShihvsstigWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Shih is a name, stig is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Shih” is a name and “stig” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,967
“Shih” frequency rank
#40,036
“stig” frequency rank
71003
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Shih stig
Definition A surname from Mandarin of Chinese origin. Someone from a poor background, with poor dress sense.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Shih and stig apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
Shih
4 ch
stig

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Shih is /ˌʌnˈʃiː/ while stig is /stɪɡ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71003, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Shih is recorded at frequency rank #30,967, classified as aname, pronounced /ˌʌnˈʃiː/. stig is at rank #40,036, tagged as anoun, pronounced /stɪɡ/.

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 71003, this pair ranks #48,383 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Shih vs stig

Shared letters: is. Private to "Shih": h. Private to "stig": gt.

"Shih" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "stig" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Shihhsih · shhi · shhih · shihh · sihh · sshih
  • stigsitg · sstig · stgi · stigg · sttig · tsig

Frequency comparison

Shih#30,967
stig#40,036

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Shih" and "stig" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Shih" is a name and "stig" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Shih" or "stig"?
"Shih" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,967 in our English list, against #40,036 for "stig". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Shih vs stig

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “Shih”; for a noun, it's “stig”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Shih” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list