Which to use
“sh” is an intj and “ship” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,233
- “sh” frequency rank
- #38,970
- “ship” frequency rank
- 65203
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sh | ship |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Grafía alternativa de shh. | Barco. |
Where the eye mixes sh and ship
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between sh and ship
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sh is [ˈʃ] while ship is /ʃɪp/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “sh” sits inside “ship”, and the parts of speech differ too (intj vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65203, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sh is recorded at frequency rank #26,233, classified as anintj, pronounced [ˈʃ]. ship is at rank #38,970, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ʃɪp/.
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 65203, this pair ranks #43,343 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sh vs ship
Shared letters: hs. Private to "sh": -. Private to "ship": ip.
"sh" · 2 letters · shape CC · "ship" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- ship ← hsip · shhip · shipp · shpi · sihp · sship
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sh" and "ship" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "sh" or "ship" show up more?
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 "sh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ship" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #43,343 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sh" and "ship" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sei vs ship". 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 #43,343 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.