stagevsstartWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#18,718
“stage” frequency rank
#12,562
“start” frequency rank
31280
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stage start
Definition encenar; produzir para o palco ver estarte

Letter map: stage vs start

Shared letters muted; letters that set stage and start apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

5 ch
stage
5 ch
start

Grammar separator: stage vs start

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: stage is averb and startanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31280, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stage is recorded at frequency rank #18,718, classified as averb, pronounced /stedʒ, steɪdʒ/. start is at rank #12,562, tagged as anoun.

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 31280, this pair ranks #36,857 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of stage vs start

Shared letters: ast. Private to "stage": eg. Private to "start": r.

"stage" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "start" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stagesatge · sstage · staeg · stagge · stgae · sttage · tsage
  • startsatrt · sstart · starrt · startt · statr · strat · sttart · tsart

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "stage" for "start" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "stage" is a verb and "start" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "stage" or "start" show up more?
"start" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,562 in our Portuguese list, against #18,718 for "stage". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "stage" vs "start" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "stage" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "start" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #36,857 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stage" and "start" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sade vs stage". 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 #36,857 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