shotsvsshutWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: shots is a noun, shut is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“shots” is a noun and “shut” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32,191
“shots” frequency rank
#41,005
“shut” frequency rank
73196
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature shots shut
Definition Pluriel de shot. Refermer, fermer ce qui était ouvert, fermer.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
shots
4 ch
shut

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: shots is anoun and shutaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73196, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

shots is recorded at frequency rank #32,191, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃɔt\. shut is at rank #41,005, tagged as averb.

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 73196, this pair ranks #41,294 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of shots vs shut

Shared letters: hst. Private to "shots": o. Private to "shut": u.

"shots" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "shut" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • shotshsots · shhots · shost · shotss · shotts · shtos · sohts · sshots
  • shuthsut · shhut · shtu · shutt · sshut · suht

Frequency comparison

shots#32,191
shut#41,005

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "shots" and "shut" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "shots" is a noun and "shut" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "shots" or "shut"?
"shots" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,191 in our French list, against #41,005 for "shut". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering shots vs shut

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “shots”; for a verb, it's “shut”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “shots” 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