Which to use
“shuts” is a verb and “sous” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,273
- “shuts” frequency rank
- #25,213
- “sous” frequency rank
- 40486
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shuts | sous |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of shut | plural of sou |
Where the eye mixes shuts and sous
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. shuts runs 5 letters (CCVCC) against sous's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: shuts vs sous
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: shuts is /ʃʌts/ while sous is /suːz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40486, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shuts is recorded at frequency rank #15,273, classified as averb, pronounced /ʃʌts/. sous is at rank #25,213, tagged as anoun, pronounced /suːz/.
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 40486, this pair ranks #267,134 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of shuts vs sous
Shared letters: su. Private to "shuts": ht. Private to "sous": o.
"shuts" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "sous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "shuts" and "sous" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "shuts" or "sous"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "shuts" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sous" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #267,134 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shuts" and "sous" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sous vs suds". 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 #267,134 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.