Which to use
“sam” and “stem” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,889
- “sam” frequency rank
- #49,952
- “stem” frequency rank
- 55841
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sam | stem |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Arena. | Tallo. |
Where the eye mixes sam and stem
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between sam and stem
A purely visual mix-up. sam (/sam/) and stem (/stɛm/) 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 55841, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sam is recorded at frequency rank #5,889, classified as anoun, pronounced /sam/. stem is at rank #49,952, tagged as anoun, pronounced /stɛm/.
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 55841, this pair ranks #77,098 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sam vs stem
Shared letters: ms. Private to "sam": a. Private to "stem": et.
"sam" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "stem" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- stem ← setm · sstem · stemm · stme · sttem · tsem
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sam" for "stem" ever safe?
Frequency check: "sam" vs "stem" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "sam" and "stem" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #77,098 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sam" and "stem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sei 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 #77,098 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.