sous

\su\

/\su\/ prep

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

The verdict

“sous” has 5 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #115. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#115
frequency rank, French
6,032
“S” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 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.

Corpus desk

Index FR-sous · sous · French

sous · rank #115 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #115
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,032
  • PHOTO-FINISH notre

Nearest frequency peer: notre (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “sous”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “sous” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

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.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around sous (IPA \su\), apreposition. Corpus frequency is #115 among 6,032 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 12 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

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)

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how sous appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Sous la table.
  2. À cent pieds sous terre.

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "sous", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

donc#113dont#119déjà#122quoi#123

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

voir5 variantssoit5 variantsfaut5 variantsfois5 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "sous". Here's where to go from here.

  • "sous" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "su". View pair
  • 5 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #115 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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