starvsstoTell them apart

Quick tell: star is a noun, sto is a num, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“star” is a noun and “sto” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,260
“star” frequency rank
#36,304
“sto” frequency rank
41564
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature star sto
Definition Estrella₁₋₆. Ciento.

Where the eye mixes star and sto

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
star
3 ch
sto

Visual trap between star and sto

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: star is /stɑː(ɹ)/ while sto is [ˈsto]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41564, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

star is recorded at frequency rank #5,260, classified as anoun, pronounced /stɑː(ɹ)/. 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 41564, this pair ranks #152,987 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of star vs sto

Shared letters: st. Private to "star": ar. Private to "sto": o.

"star" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "sto" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • starsatr · sstar · starr · stra · sttar · tsar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "star" for "sto" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "star" is a noun and "sto" a num, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "star" or "sto" show up more?
"star" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,260 in our Spanish list, against #36,304 for "sto". 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 "star" and "sto" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "star" 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 #152,987 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "star" and "sto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stem vs sto". 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 #152,987 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