sous

\su\

/\su\/ prep

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

The verdict

“sous” is in the everyday core of French, ranked #115 in French word frequency and used as a preposition.

#115
frequency rank, French
4
letters
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Sert à marquer la situation d’une chose à l’égard d’une autre qui est au-dessus, par-dessus, qui la couvre en totalité ou en partie.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

sous vs su
50% similar
sous vs ss
50% similar
sous vs sur
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for sous
PropertyValue
Headwordsous
LanguageFrench
Part of speechPreposition
IPA\su\
Letters4
Frequency rank#115
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “sous” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). sous lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for sous is 4 letters long, classified as a preposition, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \su\. Corpus data places it at rank #115 in overall French word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 12 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for sous, with forms such as "osus", "sosu", and "souss". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "su", "ss", "sur", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is sous, spelled S-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Sert à marquer la situation d’une chose à l’égard d’une autre qui est au-dessus, par-dessus, qui la couvre en totalité ou en partie.
  2. 2
    Dans.
  3. 3
    Marque la situation d’un lieu par rapport à un autre plus élevé ou en amont, s’ils sont au bord d’une rivière.
  4. 4
    Marque la subordination ou la dépendance.
  5. 5
    Se dit de ce qui recouvre, de ce qui cache.
  6. 6
    Moyennant, avec.
  7. 7
    Indique la cause.
  8. 8
    Marque le temps durant lequel un souverain a régné, un gouvernement, un régime a duré, etc.
  9. 9
    Avec.
  10. 10
    Sous l’emprise ou l’empire de.
  11. 11
    Sert à marquer l'infériorité de quelque chose, de quelqu'un par rapport à une référence
  12. 12
    Cette recherche explique la sous-évaluation des entreprises de la "nouvelle économie" lors de leur introduction en bourse (IPO) et leur sous-performance boursière ultérieure. — (Samer Saade, Sous-évaluation et sous-performance des introductions en bourse des entreprises de la "nouvelle économie", Éd. Atelier de reproduction des thèses, 2013)

This word in other languages

below(English)bajo(Español)unter(Deutsch)abaixo de(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: osus,sosu,souss,ssous,suos

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sous - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

osus2sosu2souss1ssous1suos2
Edit distance from "sous"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "sous"?
"sous" is spelled S-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is \su\.
What does "sous" mean?
As a preposition, "sous" means: Sert à marquer la situation d’une chose à l’égard d’une autre qui est au-dessus, par-dessus, qui la couvre en totalité ou en partie.
What words are commonly confused with "sous"?
"sous" is commonly confused with "su", "ss", "sur". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sous"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sous" is \su\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "sous" come from?
"sous" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 “sous”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is S-O-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \su\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “su” - see the side-by-side comparison. sous vs su
  • 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