sortsvsstatsConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#20,577
“sorts” frequency rank
#11,864
“stats” frequency rank
32441
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sorts stats
Definition Pluriel de sort. Pluriel de stat.

Where the eye mixes sorts and stats

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
sorts
5 ch
stats

Visual trap between sorts and stats

A purely visual mix-up. sorts (\sɔʁ\) and stats (\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 32441, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sorts is recorded at frequency rank #20,577, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɔʁ\. stats is at rank #11,864, tagged as anoun, 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 32441, this pair ranks #297,266 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sorts vs stats

Shared letters: st. Private to "sorts": or. Private to "stats": a.

"sorts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "stats" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sortsosrts · sorrts · sorst · sortss · sortts · sotrs · srots · ssorts
  • statssatts · sstats · stast · statss · statts · sttas · sttats · tsats

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sorts" and "stats" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\sɔʁ\ versus \stat\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sorts" or "stats"?
"stats" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,864 in our French list, against #20,577 for "sorts". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sorts" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stats" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #297,266 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sorts" and "stats" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sofres vs sorts". 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 #297,266 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list