Which to use
“sav” is a noun and “su” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,316
- “sav” frequency rank
- #1,609
- “su” frequency rank
- 19925
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sav | su |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Position debout. | Participe passé masculin singulier du verbe savoir. |
Where the eye mixes sav and su
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: sav vs su
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sav is \ˈsaw\ 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 19925, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sav is recorded at frequency rank #18,316, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈsaw\. 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 19925, this pair ranks #370,829 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sav vs su
Shared letters: s. Private to "sav": av. Private to "su": u.
"sav" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "su" · 2 letters · shape CV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sav" for "su" ever safe?
Which is more common, "sav" or "su"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sav" 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 #370,829 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sav" and "su" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sav vs suu". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #370,829 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.