Which to use
“Sudán” is a name and “sultán” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,017
- “Sudán” frequency rank
- #16,712
- “sultán” frequency rank
- 30729
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Sudán | sultán |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | País del África subsahariana. Limita con Egipto, el mar Rojo, Eritrea, Etiopía, Sudán del Sur (que se independizó en 2011), la República Centroafricana, Chad y Libia. | Título del emperador de Turquía. |
Where the eye mixes Sudán and sultán
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Sudán with sultán
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Sudán is [suˈð̞ãn] while sultán is [sul̪ˈt̪ãn]. 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 (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30729, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Sudán is recorded at frequency rank #14,017, classified as aname, pronounced [suˈð̞ãn]. sultán is at rank #16,712, tagged as anoun, pronounced [sul̪ˈt̪ãn].
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 30729, this pair ranks #210,577 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Sudán vs sultán
Shared letters: nsuá. Private to "Sudán": d. Private to "sultán": lt.
"Sudán" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "sultán" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Sudán" for "sultán" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Sudán" or "sultán"?
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 "Sudán" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sultán" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #210,577 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Sudán" and "sultán" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "salman vs sultán". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #210,577 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.