soldevssotteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“solde” and “sotte” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,925
“solde” frequency rank
#34,316
“sotte” frequency rank
40241
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature solde sotte
Definition Paie octroyée par l’armée à un de ses membres militaires ou, par extension, un de ses employés civils. Femme sans esprit, sans jugement.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
solde
5 ch
sotte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. solde (\sɔld\) and sotte (\sɔt\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40241, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

solde is recorded at frequency rank #5,925, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɔld\. sotte is at rank #34,316, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɔt\.

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 40241, this pair ranks #241,967 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of solde vs sotte

Shared letters: eos. Private to "solde": dl. Private to "sotte": t.

"solde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "sotte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • soldeoslde · slode · sodle · soldde · soled · sollde · ssolde
  • sotteostte · sote · sotet · ssotte · stote

Frequency comparison

solde#5,925
sotte#34,316

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "solde" and "sotte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\sɔld\ versus \sɔt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "solde" or "sotte"?
"solde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,925 in our French list, against #34,316 for "sotte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering solde vs sotte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “solde” 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