Which to use
“shape” and “stade” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,044
- “shape” frequency rank
- #1,191
- “stade” frequency rank
- 39235
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shape | stade |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forme. | Mesure de longueur valant à peu près 180 mètres. |
Where the eye mixes shape and stade
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between shape and stade
A purely visual mix-up. shape (\ʃɛjp\) and stade (\stad\) 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 39235, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shape is recorded at frequency rank #38,044, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃɛjp\. stade is at rank #1,191, tagged as anoun, pronounced \stad\.
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 39235, this pair ranks #249,476 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of shape vs stade
Shared letters: aes. Private to "shape": hp. Private to "stade": dt.
"shape" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "stade" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "shape" for "stade" ever safe?
Frequency check: "shape" vs "stade" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "shape" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stade" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #249,476 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shape" and "stade" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "shape 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 #249,476 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.