Which to use
“SDF” is a noun and “sur” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,557
- “SDF” frequency rank
- #26
- “sur” frequency rank
- 9583
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | SDF | sur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Personne vivant dans la rue, sans logement, sans-abri. | Indique une position plus élevée. |
Where the eye mixes SDF and sur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between SDF and sur
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: SDF is \ɛs.de.ɛf\ while sur is \syʁ\. 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 (noun vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9583, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
SDF is recorded at frequency rank #9,557, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛs.de.ɛf\. sur is at rank #26, tagged as aprep, pronounced \syʁ\.
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 9583, this pair ranks #416,142 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of SDF vs sur
Shared letters: s. Private to "SDF": df. Private to "sur": ru.
"SDF" · 3 letters · shape CCC · "sur" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "SDF" for "sur" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "SDF" or "sur" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "SDF" and "sur" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "SDF" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #416,142 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "SDF" and "sur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "SDF vs suu". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #416,142 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.