Which to use
“sous” and “sur” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,705
- “sous” frequency rank
- #517
- “sur” frequency rank
- 49222
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sous | sur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forma del plural de sou. | 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 sous and sur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between sous and sur
A purely visual mix-up. sous ([ˈsows]) and sur ([ˈsuɾ]) 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 49222, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sous is recorded at frequency rank #48,705, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈsows]. 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 49222, this pair ranks #110,044 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sous vs sur
Shared letters: su. Private to "sous": o. Private to "sur": r.
"sous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "sur" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- sous ← osus · sosu · souss · ssous
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sous" for "sur" ever safe?
Frequency check: "sous" vs "sur" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
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 "sur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #110,044 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sous" and "sur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sous vs Susa". 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 #110,044 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.