Which to use
“sauf” is an adjective and “SDF” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #661
- “sauf” frequency rank
- #9,557
- “SDF” frequency rank
- 10218
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sauf | SDF |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui n’a pas reçu d’atteinte, qui a échappé au péril. | Personne vivant dans la rue, sans logement, sans-abri. |
Where the eye mixes sauf and SDF
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between sauf and SDF
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sauf is \sof\ while SDF is \ɛs.de.ɛf\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10218, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sauf is recorded at frequency rank #661, classified as anadj, pronounced \sof\. SDF is at rank #9,557, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛs.de.ɛf\.
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 10218, this pair ranks #413,788 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sauf vs SDF
Shared letters: fs. Private to "sauf": au. Private to "SDF": d.
"sauf" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "SDF" · 3 letters · shape CCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- sauf ← asuf · safu · sauff · ssauf · suaf
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sauf" and "SDF" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "sauf" or "SDF" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "sauf" and "SDF" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sauf" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "SDF" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #413,788 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sauf" and "SDF" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "SDF vs suu". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #413,788 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.