Which to use
“savons” is a noun and “suivons” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,961
- “savons” frequency rank
- #19,998
- “suivons” frequency rank
- 23959
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | savons | suivons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de savon. | Première personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent du verbe suivre. |
Where the eye mixes savons and suivons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. savons runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against suivons's 7 (CVVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses savons with suivons
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: savons is \sa.vɔ̃\ while suivons is \sɥi.vɔ̃\. 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 23959, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
savons is recorded at frequency rank #3,961, classified as anoun, pronounced \sa.vɔ̃\. suivons is at rank #19,998, tagged as averb, pronounced \sɥi.vɔ̃\.
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 23959, this pair ranks #349,467 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of savons vs suivons
Shared letters: nosv. Private to "savons": a. Private to "suivons": iu.
"savons" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "suivons" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "savons" for "suivons" ever safe?
Frequency check: "savons" vs "suivons" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "savons" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "suivons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #349,467 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "savons" and "suivons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "suivons vs suivrons". 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 #349,467 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.