S5 vs STS, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“S5” and “STS” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#32,998
“S5” frequency rank: #40,514
“STS” frequency rank: 73512
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	S5	STS
Definition	Cinquième vertèbre sacrale (de haut en bas).	Navette spatiale américaine ayant effectué 135 vols pour l'agence spatiale américaine (NASA) entre le 12 avril 1981 et juillet 2011.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set S5 and STS apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

2 ch

3 ch

STS

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. S5 (\ɛs.sɛ̃k\) and STS (\ɛs te ɛs\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73512, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

S5 is recorded at frequency rank #32,998, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛs.sɛ̃k\. STS is at rank #40,514, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛs te ɛs\.

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 73512, this pair ranks #40,219 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of S5 vs STS

Shared letters: s. Private to "S5": -. Private to "STS": t.

"S5" · 1 letters · shape C · "STS" · 3 letters · shape CCC

Frequency comparison

S5#32,998

STS#40,514

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "S5" and "STS" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (\ɛs.sɛ̃k\ versus \ɛs te ɛs\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "S5" or "STS"?

"S5" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,998 in our French list, against #40,514 for "STS". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering S5 vs STS

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “S5” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable