statingvsstringConfusable pair

Which to use

“stating” and “string” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,632
“stating” frequency rank
#3,658
“string” frequency rank
9290
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stating string
Definition statement A long, thin and flexible structure made from threads twisted together.

Where the eye mixes stating and string

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
stating
6 ch
string

Why the eye confuses stating with string

A purely visual mix-up. stating (/ˈsteɪtɪŋ/) and string (/stɹɪŋ/) 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 9290, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stating is recorded at frequency rank #5,632, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsteɪtɪŋ/. string is at rank #3,658, tagged as anoun, pronounced /stɹɪŋ/.

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 9290, this pair ranks #498,150 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of stating vs string

Shared letters: ginst. Private to "stating": a. Private to "string": r.

"stating" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC  ·  "string" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • statingsatting · sstating · staitng · statign · statingg · statinng · statnig · statting
  • stringsrting · sstring · stirng · strign · stringg · strinng · strnig · strring

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "stating" and "string" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈsteɪtɪŋ/ versus /stɹɪŋ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "stating" or "string"?
"string" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,658 in our English list, against #5,632 for "stating". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "stating" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "string" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #498,150 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stating" and "string" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stating vs suiting". 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 #498,150 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list