saufvsstuffConfusable pair

Quick tell: sauf is a adjective, stuff is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sauf” is an adjective and “stuff” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#661
“sauf” frequency rank
#26,882
“stuff” frequency rank
27543
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sauf stuff
Definition Qui n’a pas reçu d’atteinte, qui a échappé au péril. Équipement, ce qui sert à équiper.

Where the eye mixes sauf and stuff

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
sauf
5 ch
stuff

Look-alike desk: sauf vs stuff

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sauf is \sof\ while stuff is \stœf\. 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 27543, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sauf is recorded at frequency rank #661, classified as anadj, pronounced \sof\. stuff is at rank #26,882, tagged as anoun, pronounced \stœf\.

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 27543, this pair ranks #328,304 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sauf vs stuff

Shared letters: fsu. Private to "sauf": a. Private to "stuff": t.

"sauf" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "stuff" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • saufasuf · safu · sauff · ssauf · suaf
  • stuffsstuff · stfuf · sttuff · stuf · sutff · tsuff

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sauf" and "stuff" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sauf" is an adjective and "stuff" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "sauf" vs "stuff" - which ranks higher?
"sauf" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #661 in our French list, against #26,882 for "stuff". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sauf" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stuff" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #328,304 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sauf" and "stuff" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "studi vs stuff". 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 #328,304 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list