Which to use
“sto” is a preposition and “STS” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,269
- “sto” frequency rank
- #40,514
- “STS” frequency rank
- 71783
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sto | STS |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Contraction de la préposition et de l'article défini, « dans le ». | Navette spatiale américaine ayant effectué 135 vols pour l'agence spatiale américaine (NASA) entre le 12 avril 1981 et juillet 2011. |
Where the eye mixes sto and STS
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sto with STS
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sto is \sɛ\ while STS is \ɛs te ɛs\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - o in “sto” becomes s in “STS”, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71783, 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\. STS is at rank #40,514, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛs te ɛs\.
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 71783, this pair ranks #46,311 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sto vs STS
Shared letters: st. Private to "sto": o. Private to "STS": -.
"sto" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "STS" · 3 letters · shape CCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sto" for "STS" ever safe?
Frequency check: "sto" vs "STS" - 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 "sto" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "STS" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #46,311 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sto" and "STS" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "STS vs suu". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #46,311 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.