Which to use
“spy” is a noun and “sto” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,092
- “spy” frequency rank
- #36,304
- “sto” frequency rank
- 84396
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spy | sto |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Espía. | Ciento. |
Where the eye mixes spy and sto
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. spy and sto follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses spy with sto
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: spy is /spaɪ/ while sto is [ˈsto]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84396, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spy is recorded at frequency rank #48,092, classified as anoun, pronounced /spaɪ/. sto is at rank #36,304, tagged as anum, pronounced [ˈsto].
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 84396, this pair ranks #7,095 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of spy vs sto
Shared letters: s. Private to "spy": py. Private to "sto": ot.
"spy" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "sto" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "spy" and "sto" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "spy" or "sto" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "spy" and "sto" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "spy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #7,095 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spy" and "sto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sei vs spy". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #7,095 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.