Which to use
“shape” and “ship” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,130
- “shape” frequency rank
- #19,271
- “ship” frequency rank
- 39401
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shape | ship |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | forma | navio |
Where the eye mixes shape and ship
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses shape with ship
A purely visual mix-up. shape (/ʃeɪp/) and ship (shĭp) 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 39401, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shape is recorded at frequency rank #20,130, classified as anoun, pronounced /ʃeɪp/. ship is at rank #19,271, tagged as anoun, pronounced shĭp.
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 39401, this pair ranks #26,866 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of shape vs ship
Shared letters: hps. Private to "shape": ae. Private to "ship": i.
"shape" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "ship" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "shape" and "ship" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "shape" vs "ship" - 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 "shape" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ship" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #26,866 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shape" and "ship" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "shape vs soap". 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 #26,866 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.