stovsstokeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sto is a preposition, stoke is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sto” is a preposition and “stoke” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,269
“sto” frequency rank
#35,293
“stoke” frequency rank
66562
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sto stoke
Definition Contraction de la préposition et de l'article défini, « dans le ». Chauffer en nourrissant un feu.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sto and stoke apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
sto
5 ch
stoke

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sto is \sɛ\ while stoke is \stəʊk\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “sto” sits inside “stoke”, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66562, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sto is recorded at frequency rank #31,269, classified as aprep, pronounced \sɛ\. stoke is at rank #35,293, tagged as averb, pronounced \stəʊk\.

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 66562, this pair ranks #67,266 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sto vs stoke

Shared letters: ost. Private to "sto": -. Private to "stoke": ek.

"sto" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "stoke" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stokesotke · sstoke · stkoe · stoek · stokke · sttoke · tsoke

Frequency comparison

sto#31,269
stoke#35,293

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sto" and "stoke" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sto" is a preposition and "stoke" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sto" or "stoke"?
"sto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,269 in our French list, against #35,293 for "stoke". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sto vs stoke

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a preposition, it's “sto”; for a verb, it's “stoke”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sto” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list