skivssteConfusable pair

Quick tell: ski is a noun, ste is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ski” is a noun and “ste” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,135
“ski” frequency rank
#36,242
“ste” frequency rank
56377
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ski ste
Definition esqui segunda pessoa do plural do futuro do indicativo do verbo byť

Letter map: ski vs ste

Shared letters muted; letters that set ski and ste apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
ski
3 ch
ste

Role in the sentence - ski and ste

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ski is anoun and steaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56377, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ski is recorded at frequency rank #20,135, classified as anoun, pronounced /ski/, SAMPA: /ski/. ste is at rank #36,242, tagged as averb.

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 56377, this pair ranks #10,012 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ski vs ste

Shared letters: s. Private to "ski": ik. Private to "ste": et.

"ski" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "ste" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ski" and "ste" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ski" is a noun and "ste" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "ski" vs "ste" - which ranks higher?
"ski" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,135 in our Portuguese list, against #36,242 for "ste". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "ski" vs "ste" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ski" 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 #10,012 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ski" and "ste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sau vs ste". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #10,012 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list