Which to use
“shut” is a verb and “sur” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,005
- “shut” frequency rank
- #26
- “sur” frequency rank
- 41031
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shut | sur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Refermer, fermer ce qui était ouvert, fermer. | Indique une position plus élevée. |
Letter map: shut vs sur
Shared letters muted; letters that set shut and sur apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Grammar separator: shut vs sur
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: shut is averb and surapreposition. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41031, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shut is recorded at frequency rank #41,005, classified as averb. 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 41031, this pair ranks #236,082 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of shut vs sur
Shared letters: su. Private to "shut": ht. Private to "sur": r.
"shut" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "sur" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- shut ← hsut · shhut · shtu · shutt · sshut · suht
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "shut" and "sur" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "shut" or "sur"?
After this comparison
Pair "shut" vs "sur" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "shut" 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 #236,082 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shut" and "sur" 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 #236,082 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.