sudvssureWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: sud is a noun, sure is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sud” is a noun and “sure” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,016
“sud” frequency rank
#42,717
“sure” frequency rank
56733
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sud sure
Definition Uno de los cuatro puntos cardinales, el especificado por los 180°, dirigido hacia el polo sur, por convención la dirección hacia abajo en un mapa. Seguro, convencido.

Where the eye mixes sud and sure

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
sud
4 ch
sure

Visual trap between sud and sure

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sud is [ˈsuð̞] while sure is /ʃʊə/ (fusión pour–poor). Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56733, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sud is recorded at frequency rank #14,016, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈsuð̞]. sure is at rank #42,717, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ʃʊə/ (fusión pour–poor).

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 56733, this pair ranks #73,347 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sud vs sure

Shared letters: su. Private to "sud": d. Private to "sure": er.

"sud" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "sure" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • suresrue · ssure · surre

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sud" for "sure" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sud" is a noun and "sure" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sud" or "sure"?
"sud" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,016 in our Spanish list, against #42,717 for "sure". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sud" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sure" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #73,347 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sud" and "sure" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sari vs sure". 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 #73,347 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list