Which to use
“sore” is an adjective and “sura” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,289
- “sore” frequency rank
- #49,659
- “sura” frequency rank
- 56948
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sore | sura |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Causing pain or discomfort; painfully sensitive. | Any of the 114 chapters of the Quran. |
Where the eye mixes sore and sura
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. sore and sura follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses sore with sura
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sore is /sɔː/ while sura is /ˈsʊə.ɹə/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56948, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sore is recorded at frequency rank #7,289, classified as anadj, pronounced /sɔː/. sura is at rank #49,659, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsʊə.ɹə/.
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 56948, this pair ranks #122,641 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sore vs sura
Shared letters: rs. Private to "sore": eo. Private to "sura": au.
"sore" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "sura" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sore" for "sura" ever safe?
Which is more common, "sore" or "sura"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sore" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sura" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #122,641 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sore" and "sura" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "suds vs sura". 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 #122,641 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.