soulsvssousWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“souls” and “sous” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#34,349
“souls” frequency rank
#48,705
“sous” frequency rank
83054
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature souls sous
Definition Forma del plural de soul. Forma del plural de sou.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set souls and sous apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
souls
4 ch
sous

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. souls (/səʊlz/) and sous ([ˈsows]) 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 83054, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

souls is recorded at frequency rank #34,349, classified as anoun, pronounced /səʊlz/. sous is at rank #48,705, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈsows].

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 83054, this pair ranks #8,543 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of souls vs sous

Shared letters: osu. Private to "souls": l. Private to "sous": -.

"souls" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "sous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • soulsosuls · solus · soulls · soulss · sousl · ssouls · suols
  • sousosus · sosu · souss · ssous

Frequency comparison

souls#34,349
sous#48,705

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "souls" and "sous" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/səʊlz/ versus [ˈsows]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "souls" or "sous"?
"souls" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,349 in our Spanish list, against #48,705 for "sous". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering souls vs sous

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “souls” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list