Which to use
“sic” is an adverb and “sur” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,861
- “sic” frequency rank
- #517
- “sur” frequency rank
- 12378
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sic | sur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Úsase en textos escritos para señalar que una transcripción o cita es textual, y que por lo tanto las imprecisiones o errores se deben al autor y no a quien transcribe | Punto cardinal del horizonte, exactamente donde se encuentra el Sol a mediodía (en el hemisferio norte), marcado a 180° con respecto al Norte en una brújula. Convencionalmente se ubica en la parte inferior de los mapas,. |
Where the eye mixes sic and sur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sic with sur
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sic is [ˈsik] while sur is [ˈsuɾ]. 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 (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12378, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sic is recorded at frequency rank #11,861, classified as anadv, pronounced [ˈsik]. sur is at rank #517, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈsuɾ].
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 12378, this pair ranks #291,766 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sic vs sur
Shared letters: s. Private to "sic": ci. Private to "sur": ru.
"sic" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "sur" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sic" for "sur" ever safe?
Frequency check: "sic" vs "sur" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "sic" and "sur" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sic" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #291,766 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sic" and "sur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sic vs sila". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #291,766 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.