sosténvssystemConfusable pair

Which to use

“sostén” and “system” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#18,689
“sostén” frequency rank
#14,970
“system” frequency rank
33659
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sostén system
Definition Acción o efecto de sostener Sistema.

Where the eye mixes sostén and system

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

6 ch
sostén
6 ch
system

Look-alike desk: sostén vs system

A purely visual mix-up. sostén ([sosˈt̪ẽn]) and system (/ˈsɪs.təm/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33659, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sostén is recorded at frequency rank #18,689, classified as anoun, pronounced [sosˈt̪ẽn]. system is at rank #14,970, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɪs.təm/.

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 33659, this pair ranks #195,616 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sostén vs system

Shared letters: st. Private to "sostén": noé. Private to "system": emy.

"sostén" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "system" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • systemssystem · ssytem · sysetm · sysstem · systemm · systme · systtem · sytsem

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sostén" for "system" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([sosˈt̪ẽn] versus /ˈsɪs.təm/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sostén" or "system"?
"system" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,970 in our Spanish list, against #18,689 for "sostén". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "sostén" and "system" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sostén" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "system" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #195,616 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sostén" and "system" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stem vs system". 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 #195,616 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