Which to use
“sit” is a verb and “sur” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,990
- “sit” frequency rank
- #26
- “sur” frequency rank
- 20016
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sit | sur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de seoir. | Indique une position plus élevée. |
Where the eye mixes sit and sur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sit with sur
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sit is \si\ 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 (verb vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20016, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sit is recorded at frequency rank #19,990, classified as averb, pronounced \si\. 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 20016, this pair ranks #370,352 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sit vs sur
Shared letters: s. Private to "sit": it. Private to "sur": ru.
"sit" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "sur" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sit" for "sur" ever safe?
Which is more common, "sit" or "sur"?
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 "sit" 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 #370,352 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sit" and "sur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sit vs suu". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #370,352 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.