Which to use
“shame” and “space” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,228
- “shame” frequency rank
- #13,845
- “space” frequency rank
- 50073
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shame | space |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | vergonha; desonra | espaço |
Where the eye mixes shame and space
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. shame and space follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: shame vs space
A purely visual mix-up. shame (/ʃeɪm/) and space (/ˈspeɪs/) 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 50073, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shame is recorded at frequency rank #36,228, classified as anoun, pronounced /ʃeɪm/. space is at rank #13,845, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈspeɪs/.
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 50073, this pair ranks #14,914 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of shame vs space
Shared letters: aes. Private to "shame": hm. Private to "space": cp.
"shame" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "space" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "shame" and "space" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "shame" vs "space" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "shame" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "space" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #14,914 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shame" and "space" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "shame vs shire". 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 #14,914 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.