system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
I just noticed that Virginia is a commonwealth. How does that separate it from what a state is? 

Is there a difference in how things are run or is it just a different word for the same thing?
gpt
Anymore, it is just another word for state, and bears no legal significance.

Massachusetts, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky refer to themselves as commonwealths...Delaware has in the past, and Vermont uses both state and commonwealth.

All of these recognized themselves as states...for example, if you are speeding in Boston, you will be pulled over by the Massachusetts State Police.