sauvantvssuivantWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sauvant is a verb, suivant is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sauvant” is a verb and “suivant” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#29,536
“sauvant” frequency rank
#1,075
“suivant” frequency rank
30611
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sauvant suivant
Definition Participe présent de sauver. Qui est après, qui vient après.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sauvant and suivant apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
sauvant
7 ch
suivant

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sauvant is \so.vɑ̃\ while suivant is \sɥi.vɑ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30611, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sauvant is recorded at frequency rank #29,536, classified as averb, pronounced \so.vɑ̃\. suivant is at rank #1,075, tagged as anadj, pronounced \sɥi.vɑ̃\.

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 30611, this pair ranks #309,117 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sauvant vs suivant

Shared letters: anstuv. Private to "sauvant": -. Private to "suivant": i.

"sauvant" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC  ·  "suivant" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sauvantasuvant · sauavnt · sauvannt · sauvantt · sauvatn · sauvnat · sauvvant · savuant
  • suivantsiuvant · ssuivant · suiavnt · suivannt · suivantt · suivatn · suivnat · suivvant

Frequency comparison

sauvant#29,536
suivant#1,075

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sauvant" and "suivant" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sauvant" is a verb and "suivant" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sauvant" or "suivant"?
"suivant" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,075 in our French list, against #29,536 for "sauvant". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering sauvant vs suivant

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “sauvant”; for an adjective, it's “suivant”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sauvant” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list