soldvssoliWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sold is a verb, soli is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sold” is a verb and “soli” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,741
“sold” frequency rank
#48,798
“soli” frequency rank
93539
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sold soli
Definition Deuxième personne du singulier de l’impératif présent de solden. Sous le faîtage, espace servant à engranger le foin (fenière) et où l'on peut aussi coucher, en y accédant par une échelle extérieure.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sold and soli apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
sold
4 ch
soli

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sold is \zɔlt\ while soli is \sɔ.lo\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - d in “sold” becomes i in “soli”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 93539, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sold is recorded at frequency rank #44,741, classified as averb, pronounced \zɔlt\. soli is at rank #48,798, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɔ.lo\.

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 93539, this pair ranks #2,207 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sold vs soli

Shared letters: los. Private to "sold": d. Private to "soli": i.

"sold" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "soli" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • soldosld · slod · sodl · soldd · solld · ssold
  • soliosli · sloi · soil · solli · ssoli

Frequency comparison

sold#44,741
soli#48,798

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sold" and "soli" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sold" is a verb and "soli" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sold" or "soli"?
"sold" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #44,741 in our French list, against #48,798 for "soli". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sold vs soli

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “sold”; for a noun, it's “soli”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sold” 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