Which to use
“Slates” is a name and “states” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,781
- “Slates” frequency rank
- #282
- “states” frequency rank
- 47063
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Slates | states |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A surname. | plural of state |
Letter map: Slates vs states
Shared letters muted; letters that set Slates and states apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. Slates and states follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Grammar separator: Slates vs states
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Slates is aname and statesanoun. On the page they differ by a single letter - l in “Slates” becomes t in “states”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47063, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Slates is recorded at frequency rank #46,781, classified as aname. states is at rank #282, tagged as anoun, pronounced /steɪts/.
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 47063, this pair ranks #205,886 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Slates vs states
Shared letters: aest. Private to "Slates": l. Private to "states": -.
"Slates" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "states" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Slates" and "states" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "Slates" vs "states" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pair "Slates" vs "states" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "Slates" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "states" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #205,886 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Slates" and "states" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sate vs Slates". 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 #205,886 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.