Which to use
“somme” and “sommeil” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,458
- “somme” frequency rank
- #2,799
- “sommeil” frequency rank
- 4257
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | somme | sommeil |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Résultat de l’addition de plusieurs nombres. | État inconscient, souvent accompagné de rêves, dans lequel doivent obligatoirement se plonger les hommes et les animaux périodiquement pour des raisons psychologiques et physiologiques. |
Where the eye mixes somme and sommeil
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. somme runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against sommeil's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses somme with sommeil
A purely visual mix-up. somme (\sɔm\) and sommeil (\sɔ.mɛj\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “somme” sits inside “sommeil”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4257, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
somme is recorded at frequency rank #1,458, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɔm\. sommeil is at rank #2,799, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɔ.mɛj\.
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 4257, this pair ranks #432,056 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of somme vs sommeil
Shared letters: emos. Private to "somme": -. Private to "sommeil": il.
"somme" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "sommeil" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "somme" for "sommeil" ever safe?
Which is more common, "somme" or "sommeil"?
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 "somme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sommeil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #432,056 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "somme" and "sommeil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "semée vs somme". 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 #432,056 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.