Which to use
“shop” and “shows” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,408
- “shop” frequency rank
- #597
- “shows” frequency rank
- 2005
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shop | shows |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An establishment that sells goods or services to the public; originally only a physical location, but now a virtual establishment as well. | plural of show |
Where the eye mixes shop and shows
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. shop (/ʃɒp/) and shows (/ʃəʊz/) 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 2005, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shop is recorded at frequency rank #1,408, classified as anoun, pronounced /ʃɒp/. shows is at rank #597, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ʃəʊz/.
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 2005, this pair ranks #526,081 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of shop vs shows
Shared letters: hos. Private to "shop": p. Private to "shows": w.
"shop" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "shows" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC