sacvssuWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sac is a noun, su is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sac” is a noun and “su” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,345
“sac” frequency rank
#1,609
“su” frequency rank
2954
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sac su
Definition Contenant muni d’une ouverture éventuellement refermable et fait d’un matériau souple (plastique, cuir, étoffe…) qui sert à mettre toutes sortes de choses. Participe passé masculin singulier du verbe savoir.

Where the eye mixes sac and su

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
sac
2 ch
su

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sac is \sak\ while su is \sy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2954, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sac is recorded at frequency rank #1,345, classified as anoun, pronounced \sak\. su is at rank #1,609, tagged as averb, pronounced \sy\.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 2954, this pair ranks #435,117 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sac vs su

Shared letters: s. Private to "sac": ac. Private to "su": u.

"sac" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "su" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sac" and "su" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sac" is a noun and "su" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sac" or "su"?
"sac" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,345 in our French list, against #1,609 for "su". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "sac" and "su". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sac" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "su" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #435,117 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sac" and "su" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "su vs suu". Nearby pair

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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list