sepavssuppWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“sepa” and “supp” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#45,311
“sepa” frequency rank
#31,754
“supp” frequency rank
77065
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sepa supp
Definition Première personne du singulier du subjonctif présent de saber. Deuxième personne du singulier de l’impératif présent de suppen.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sepa and supp apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
sepa
4 ch
supp

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. sepa (\ˈse.pa\) and supp (\zʊp\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77065, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sepa is recorded at frequency rank #45,311, classified as averb, pronounced \ˈse.pa\. supp is at rank #31,754, tagged as averb, pronounced \zʊp\.

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 77065, this pair ranks #29,413 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sepa vs supp

Shared letters: ps. Private to "sepa": ae. Private to "supp": u.

"sepa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "supp" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sepaespa · seap · seppa · spea · ssepa
  • suppspup · ssupp · uspp

Frequency comparison

sepa#45,311
supp#31,754

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sepa" and "supp" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ˈse.pa\ versus \zʊp\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sepa" or "supp"?
"supp" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,754 in our French list, against #45,311 for "sepa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sepa vs supp

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sepa” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list