shopvsshowsConfusable pair

Which to use

“shop” and “shows” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#21,496
“shop” frequency rank
#11,135
“shows” frequency rank
32631
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature shop shows
Definition Tienda, negocio, comercio. Forma del plural de show ('espectáculos').

Where the eye mixes shop and shows

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
shop
5 ch
shows

Look-alike desk: shop vs shows

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 32631, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

shop is recorded at frequency rank #21,496, classified as anoun, pronounced /ʃɒp/. shows is at rank #11,135, 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 32631, this pair ranks #200,986 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • shophsop · shhop · shopp · shpo · sohp · sshop
  • showshsows · shhows · shosw · showss · showws · shwos · sohws · sshows

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "shop" and "shows" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ʃɒp/ versus /ʃəʊz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "shop" or "shows"?
"shows" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,135 in our Spanish list, against #21,496 for "shop". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "shop" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "shows" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #200,986 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "shop" and "shows" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "shop vs snob". 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 #200,986 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list