Which to use
“sires” and “soirs” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,797
- “sires” frequency rank
- #5,924
- “soirs” frequency rank
- 54721
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sires | soirs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de sire. | Pluriel de soir. |
Where the eye mixes sires and soirs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. sires (CVCVC) and soirs (CVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between sires and soirs
A purely visual mix-up. sires (\siʁ\) and soirs (\swaʁ\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54721, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sires is recorded at frequency rank #48,797, classified as anoun, pronounced \siʁ\. soirs is at rank #5,924, tagged as anoun, pronounced \swaʁ\.
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 54721, this pair ranks #132,117 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sires vs soirs
Shared letters: irs. Private to "sires": e. Private to "soirs": o.
"sires" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "soirs" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sires" for "soirs" ever safe?
Which is more common, "sires" or "soirs"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sires" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "soirs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #132,117 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sires" and "soirs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sires vs sofres". 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 #132,117 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.