Which to use
“scale” and “state” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,661
- “scale” frequency rank
- #10,789
- “state” frequency rank
- 54450
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | scale | state |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de scaler. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de stater. |
Where the eye mixes scale and state
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between scale and state
A purely visual mix-up. scale (\skal\) and state (\stat\) 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 54450, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
scale is recorded at frequency rank #43,661, classified as averb, pronounced \skal\. state is at rank #10,789, tagged as averb, pronounced \stat\.
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 54450, this pair ranks #133,984 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of scale vs state
Shared letters: aes. Private to "scale": cl. Private to "state": t.
"scale" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "state" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "scale" and "state" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "scale" or "state" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "scale" and "state" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "scale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "state" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #133,984 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "scale" and "state" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "scale vs stase". 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 #133,984 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.