standsvsstatesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,082
“stands” frequency rank
#24,316
“states” frequency rank
65398
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stands states
Definition Forma del plural de stand. Forma del plural de state.

Where the eye mixes stands and states

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. stands (CCVCCC) and states (CCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
stands
6 ch
states

Visual trap between stands and states

A purely visual mix-up. stands (/stændz/) and states (/steɪts/) 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 65398, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stands is recorded at frequency rank #41,082, classified as anoun, pronounced /stændz/. states is at rank #24,316, tagged as anoun, pronounced /steɪts/.

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 65398, this pair ranks #42,748 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of stands vs states

Shared letters: ast. Private to "stands": dn. Private to "states": e.

"stands" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC  ·  "states" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stands ← satnds · sstands · stadns · standds · standss · stannds · stansd · stnads
  • states ← sattes · sstates · staets · statess · statse · stattes · sttaes · sttates

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "stands" and "states" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/stændz/ versus /steɪts/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "stands" or "states"?
"states" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,316 in our Spanish list, against #41,082 for "stands". 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 "stands" and "states" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "stands" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "states" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #42,748 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stands" and "states" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sounds vs stands". 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 #42,748 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