bien sûr

\bjɛ̃ syʁ\

/\bjɛ̃ syʁ\/ adv

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“bien sûr” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as an adverb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Évidemment ; avec évidence ; certainement.

Key facts for bien sûr
PropertyValue
Headwordbien sûr
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\bjɛ̃ syʁ\
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “bien sûr” sits in French frequency

bien sûr falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for bien sûr is 8 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \bjɛ̃ syʁ\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Évidemment ; avec évidence ; certainement.".

bien sûr doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is bien sûr, spelled B-I-E-N- -S-Û-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Évidemment ; avec évidence ; certainement.

This word in other languages

of course(English)por supuesto(Español)sicher(Deutsch)claro(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "bien sûr"?
"bien sûr" is spelled B-I-E-N- -S-Û-R. The IPA pronunciation is \bjɛ̃ syʁ\.
What does "bien sûr" mean?
As an adverb, "bien sûr" means: Évidemment ; avec évidence ; certainement.
How do you pronounce "bien sûr"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bien sûr" is \bjɛ̃ syʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "bien sûr" come from?
"bien sûr" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “bien sûr”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is B-I-E-N- -S-Û-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \bjɛ̃ syʁ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

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