-us
\ys\
The verdict
“-us” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a suffix - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 3
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Suffixe servant à former des adjectifs à partir d’une base verbale ou nominale : -eux, -ant, -able, -ible.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | -us |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Suffix |
| IPA | \ys\ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “-us” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for -us is 3 letters long, classified as a suffix, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ys\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
-us doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is -us, spelled --U-S.
Definition
- 1Suffixe servant à former des adjectifs à partir d’une base verbale ou nominale : -eux, -ant, -able, -ible.
- 2Suffixe servant à former des adjectifs à partir d’une base verbale ou nominale : -eux, -ant, -able, -ible.
- 3Suffixe servant à former des adjectifs à partir d’une base verbale ou nominale : -eux, -ant, -able, -ible.
- 4Suffixe servant à former des adjectifs à partir d’une base verbale ou nominale : -eux, -ant, -able, -ible.
- 5Suffixe servant à former des adjectifs à partir d’une base verbale ou nominale : -eux, -ant, -able, -ible.
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 "-us"?
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Using “-us”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is --U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ys\ (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.