substance
\syp.stɑ̃s\
The verdict
“substance” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #5,706 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #5,706
- frequency rank, French
- 9
- letters
- 14
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Ce qui subsiste par soi-même, indépendamment de tout accident.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | substance |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \syp.stɑ̃s\ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #5,706 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “substance” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for substance is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \syp.stɑ̃s\. Corpus data places it at rank #5,706 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for substance, with forms such as "sbustance", "ssubstance", and "subbstance". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "substances", "subsistance", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is substance, spelled S-U-B-S-T-A-N-C-E.
Definition
- 1Ce qui subsiste par soi-même, indépendamment de tout accident.
- 2Toute sorte de matière.
- 3Ce qu’il y a de meilleur, de plus succulent, de plus nourrissant en quelque chose.
- 4Ce qu’il y a d’essentiel dans un discours, dans un écrit, dans une affaire, etc.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: sbustance,ssubstance,subbstance,subsatnce,subsstance,substacne,substancce,substanec,substannce,substnace,substtance,subtsance,susbtance,usbstance
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of substance - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "substance"?
What does "substance" mean?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “substance”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is S-U-B-S-T-A-N-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \syp.stɑ̃s\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “substances” - see the side-by-side comparison. substance vs substances
- 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.