Which to use
“stay” and “stop” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,786
- “stay” frequency rank
- #9,898
- “stop” frequency rank
- 37684
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stay | stop |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Parada. | En los reproductores de música, el botón con el símbolo de cuadrado que se usa para detener la canción. |
Where the eye mixes stay and stop
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: stay vs stop
A purely visual mix-up. stay (/steɪ/) and stop ([esˈt̪op]) 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 37684, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stay is recorded at frequency rank #27,786, classified as anoun, pronounced /steɪ/. stop is at rank #9,898, tagged as anoun, pronounced [esˈt̪op].
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 37684, this pair ranks #174,017 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of stay vs stop
Shared letters: st. Private to "stay": ay. Private to "stop": op.
"stay" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "stop" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "stay" and "stop" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "stay" or "stop"?
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 "stay" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stop" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #174,017 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stay" and "stop" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stay vs stem". 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 #174,017 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.