Which to use
“sous” and “sum” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,213
- “sous” frequency rank
- #4,050
- “sum” frequency rank
- 29263
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sous | sum |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of sou | A quantity obtained by addition or aggregation. |
Where the eye mixes sous and sum
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between sous and sum
A purely visual mix-up. sous (/suːz/) and sum (/sʌm/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29263, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sous is recorded at frequency rank #25,213, classified as anoun, pronounced /suːz/. sum is at rank #4,050, tagged as anoun, pronounced /sʌm/.
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 29263, this pair ranks #364,447 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sous vs sum
Shared letters: su. Private to "sous": o. Private to "sum": m.
"sous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "sum" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- sous ← osus · sosu · souss · ssous · suos
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sous" for "sum" ever safe?
Frequency check: "sous" vs "sum" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sous" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sum" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #364,447 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sous" and "sum" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sous vs suds". 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 #364,447 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.