showsvssonsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,135
“shows” frequency rank
#37,863
“sons” frequency rank
48998
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature shows sons
Definition Forma del plural de show ('espectáculos'). Forma del plural de so.

Where the eye mixes shows and sons

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

5 ch
shows
4 ch
sons

Look-alike desk: shows vs sons

A purely visual mix-up. shows (/ʃəʊz/) and sons (/ˈsɔns/) 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 48998, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

shows is recorded at frequency rank #11,135, classified as anoun, pronounced /ʃəʊz/. sons is at rank #37,863, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɔns/.

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 48998, this pair ranks #111,338 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of shows vs sons

Shared letters: os. Private to "shows": hw. Private to "sons": n.

"shows" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "sons" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • showshsows · shhows · shosw · showss · showws · shwos · sohws · sshows
  • sonsosns · snos · sonns · sonss · sosn · ssons

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "shows" and "sons" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ʃəʊz/ versus /ˈsɔns/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "shows" vs "sons" - which ranks higher?
"shows" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,135 in our Spanish list, against #37,863 for "sons". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "shows" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #111,338 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "shows" and "sons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sons vs sous". 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 #111,338 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