Which to use
“sole” and “somme” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,037
- “sole” frequency rank
- #1,458
- “somme” frequency rank
- 25495
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sole | somme |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partie inférieure creuse du sabot. ^([1]) | Résultat de l’addition de plusieurs nombres. |
Where the eye mixes sole and somme
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. sole runs 4 letters (CVCV) against somme's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses sole with somme
A purely visual mix-up. sole (\sɔl\) and somme (\sɔm\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25495, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sole is recorded at frequency rank #24,037, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɔl\. somme is at rank #1,458, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɔm\.
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 25495, this pair ranks #340,529 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sole vs somme
Shared letters: eos. Private to "sole": l. Private to "somme": m.
"sole" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "somme" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sole" and "somme" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "sole" or "somme" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sole" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "somme" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #340,529 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sole" and "somme" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "socles vs sole". 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 #340,529 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.