surface
\syʁ.fas\
The verdict
“surface” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #1,302 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #1,302
- frequency rank, French
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Superficie, partie extérieure d’un corps ; ce qui le limite dans l’espace.
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 | surface |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \syʁ.fas\ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #1,302 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “surface” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for surface is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \syʁ.fas\. Corpus data places it at rank #1,302 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for surface, with forms such as "sruface", "ssurface", and "sufrace". 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 5 confusable-pair relationships, "surtaxe", "surfant", "surfait", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is surface, spelled S-U-R-F-A-C-E.
Definition
- 1Superficie, partie extérieure d’un corps ; ce qui le limite dans l’espace.
- 2Étendue (d’une contrée, d'un pays, dans un contexte où il ne s’agit ni de sa mesure, ni de la nature du sol).
- 3Extérieur ; dehors ; apparence.
- 4Au tennis, revêtement du sol (dur, terre battue, gazon, synthétique).
- 5Objet géométrique à deux dimensions. Espace localement homéomorphe à un plan.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: sruface,ssurface,sufrace,surafce,surfacce,surfaec,surfcae,surfface,surrface,usrface
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of surface - 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
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Using “surface”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is S-U-R-F-A-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \syʁ.fas\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “surtaxe” - see the side-by-side comparison. surface vs surtaxe
- 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.