Which to use
“state” is a verb and “States” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,789
- “state” frequency rank
- #10,245
- “States” frequency rank
- 21034
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | state | States |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de stater. | États-Unis d’Amérique. |
Where the eye mixes state and States
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between state and States
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: state is \stat\ while States is \stɛts\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “state” sits inside “States”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21034, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
state is recorded at frequency rank #10,789, classified as averb, pronounced \stat\. States is at rank #10,245, tagged as aname, pronounced \stɛts\.
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 21034, this pair ranks #365,198 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of state vs States
Shared letters: aest. Private to "state": -. Private to "States": -.
"state" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "States" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "state" and "States" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "state" vs "States" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "state" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "States" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #365,198 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "state" and "States" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stase vs state". 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 #365,198 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.