Which to use
“shut” and “sun” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,005
- “shut” frequency rank
- #6,897
- “sun” frequency rank
- 47902
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shut | sun |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Refermer, fermer ce qui était ouvert, fermer. | Chanter |
Letter map: shut vs sun
Shared letters muted; letters that set shut and sun apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Pair insight - shut / sun
shut and sun are indexed as a confusable French pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47902, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shut is recorded at frequency rank #41,005, classified as averb. sun is at rank #6,897, tagged as averb.
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 47902, this pair ranks #183,235 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of shut vs sun
Shared letters: su. Private to "shut": ht. Private to "sun": n.
"shut" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "sun" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- shut ← hsut · shhut · shtu · shutt · sshut · suht
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "shut" and "sun" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "shut" or "sun" show up more?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "shut" and "sun".
- Full dictionary entry for "shut" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #183,235 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shut" and "sun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "shut vs suu". 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 #183,235 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.