saevsstateWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: sae is a verb, state is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sae” is a verb and “state” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32,867
“sae” frequency rank
#11,318
“state” frequency rank
44185
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sae state
Definition Tercera persona del singular (el, ela, vostede) del presente de indicativo de saír. Estado (situación).

Where the eye mixes sae and state

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

3 ch
sae
5 ch
state

Why the eye confuses sae with state

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sae is [ˈsaɪ] while state is /steɪt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44185, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sae is recorded at frequency rank #32,867, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈsaɪ]. state is at rank #11,318, 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 44185, this pair ranks #138,473 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sae vs state

Shared letters: aes. Private to "sae": -. Private to "state": t.

"sae" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "state" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • statesatte · sstate · staet · statte · sttae · sttate · tsate

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sae" and "state" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sae" is a verb and "state" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "sae" or "state" show up more?
"state" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,318 in our Spanish list, against #32,867 for "sae". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sae" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "state" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #138,473 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sae" and "state" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sae vs stem". 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 #138,473 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list