Which to use
“shan” and “show” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,590
- “shan” frequency rank
- #2,852
- “show” frequency rank
- 39442
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shan | show |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Langue de la famille tai-kadai parlée en Birmanie, en Chine et en Thaïlande par les Shans. | Spectacle. |
Where the eye mixes shan and show
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: shan vs show
A purely visual mix-up. shan (\ʃan\) and show (\ʃo\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39442, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shan is recorded at frequency rank #36,590, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃan\. show is at rank #2,852, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃo\.
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 39442, this pair ranks #247,947 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of shan vs show
Shared letters: hs. Private to "shan": an. Private to "show": ow.
"shan" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "show" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "shan" and "show" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "shan" or "show"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "shan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "show" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #247,947 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shan" and "show" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "shan vs swag". 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 #247,947 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.