Which to use
“show” and “son” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,997
- “show” frequency rank
- #40
- “son” frequency rank
- 2037
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | show | son |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Espectáculo. | Sonido rítmico. |
Where the eye mixes show and son
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between show and son
A purely visual mix-up. show ([ˈʃow]) and son ([ˈsõn]) 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 2037, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
show is recorded at frequency rank #1,997, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃow]. son is at rank #40, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈsõn].
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 2037, this pair ranks #321,092 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of show vs son
Shared letters: os. Private to "show": hw. Private to "son": n.
"show" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "son" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- show ← hsow · shhow · showw · shwo · sohw · sshow
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "show" and "son" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "show" or "son"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "show" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "son" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #321,092 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "show" and "son" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "show 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 #321,092 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.