Which to use
“spi” is an adjective and “ste” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,369
- “spi” frequency rank
- #10,412
- “ste” frequency rank
- 59781
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spi | ste |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Spirituel (au sens religieux). | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de stare. |
Where the eye mixes spi and ste
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between spi and ste
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: spi is \spi\ while ste is \ˈstɛ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59781, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spi is recorded at frequency rank #49,369, classified as anadj, pronounced \spi\. ste is at rank #10,412, tagged as averb, pronounced \ˈstɛ\.
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 59781, this pair ranks #101,213 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of spi vs ste
Shared letters: s. Private to "spi": ip. Private to "ste": et.
"spi" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "ste" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "spi" and "ste" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "spi" or "ste"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "spi" and "ste" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "spi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #101,213 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spi" and "ste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "spi vs suu". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #101,213 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.