Which to use
“sale” and “state” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,110
- “sale” frequency rank
- #163
- “state” frequency rank
- 1273
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sale | state |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An exchange of goods or services for currency or credit. | A condition; a set of circumstances applying at any given time. |
Where the eye mixes sale and state
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. sale (/seːl/) and state (/steɪt/) 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 1273, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sale is recorded at frequency rank #1,110, classified as anoun, pronounced /seːl/. state is at rank #163, tagged as anoun, pronounced /steɪt/.
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 1273, this pair ranks #527,750 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sale vs state
Shared letters: aes. Private to "sale": l. Private to "state": t.
"sale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "state" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV