Which to use
“space” and “state” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,224
- “space” frequency rank
- #11,318
- “state” frequency rank
- 27542
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | space | state |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Espacio. | Estado (situación). |
Where the eye mixes space and state
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses space with state
A purely visual mix-up. space (/speɪs/) and state (/steɪt/) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27542, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
space is recorded at frequency rank #16,224, classified as anoun, pronounced /speɪs/. 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 27542, this pair ranks #226,329 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of space vs state
Shared letters: aes. Private to "space": cp. Private to "state": t.
"space" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "state" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "space" and "state" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "space" or "state"?
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 "space" 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 #226,329 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "space" and "state" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "shame vs space". 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 #226,329 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.