surtirvssutilWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: surtir is a verb, sutil is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“surtir” is a verb and “sutil” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,436
“surtir” frequency rank
#9,549
“sutil” frequency rank
56985
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature surtir sutil
Definition Suministrar Muy fino o delgado.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
surtir
5 ch
sutil

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: surtir is [suɾˈt̪iɾ] while sutil is [suˈt̪il]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56985, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

surtir is recorded at frequency rank #47,436, classified as averb, pronounced [suɾˈt̪iɾ]. sutil is at rank #9,549, tagged as anadj, pronounced [suˈt̪il].

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 56985, this pair ranks #72,321 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of surtir vs sutil

Shared letters: istu. Private to "surtir": r. Private to "sutil": l.

"surtir" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "sutil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • surtirsrutir · ssurtir · suritr · surrtir · surtirr · surtri · surttir · sutrir
  • sutilssutil · stuil · suitl · sutill · sutli · suttil · ustil

Frequency comparison

surtir#47,436
sutil#9,549

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "surtir" and "sutil" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "surtir" is a verb and "sutil" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "surtir" or "sutil"?
"sutil" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,549 in our Spanish list, against #47,436 for "surtir". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering surtir vs sutil

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “surtir”; for an adjective, it's “sutil”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “surtir” 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