Which to use
“state” and “ste” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,789
- “state” frequency rank
- #10,412
- “ste” frequency rank
- 21201
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | state | ste |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de stater. | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de stare. |
Where the eye mixes state and ste
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: state vs ste
A purely visual mix-up. state (\stat\) and ste (\ˈstɛ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21201, 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\. 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 21201, this pair ranks #364,383 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of state vs ste
Shared letters: est. Private to "state": a. Private to "ste": -.
"state" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "ste" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- state ← satte · sstate · staet · statte · sttae · sttate · tsate
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "state" and "ste" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "state" or "ste" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "state" and "ste" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "state" 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 #364,383 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "state" and "ste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ste vs suu". 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 #364,383 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.