sharevssparkWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“share” and “spark” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#34,310
“share” frequency rank
#40,029
“spark” frequency rank
74339
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature share spark
Definition Participation. Étincelle, flammèche.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set share and spark apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
share
5 ch
spark

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. share (\ʃɛə(ɹ)\) and spark (\spɑː(r)k\) 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 74339, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

share is recorded at frequency rank #34,310, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃɛə(ɹ)\. spark is at rank #40,029, tagged as anoun, pronounced \spɑː(r)k\.

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 74339, this pair ranks #37,466 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of share vs spark

Shared letters: ars. Private to "share": eh. Private to "spark": kp.

"share" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "spark" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sharehsare · sahre · shaer · sharre · shhare · shrae · sshare
  • sparkpsark · saprk · spakr · sparkk · sparrk · sppark · sprak · sspark

Frequency comparison

share#34,310
spark#40,029

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "share" and "spark" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʃɛə(ɹ)\ versus \spɑː(r)k\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "share" or "spark"?
"share" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,310 in our French list, against #40,029 for "spark". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering share vs spark

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “share” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list