Which to use
“sommes” and “sortes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #405
- “sommes” frequency rank
- #3,964
- “sortes” frequency rank
- 4369
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sommes | sortes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de somme. | Pluriel de sorte. |
Where the eye mixes sommes and sortes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sommes with sortes
A purely visual mix-up. sommes (\sɔm\) and sortes (\sɔʁt\) 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 4369, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sommes is recorded at frequency rank #405, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɔm\. sortes is at rank #3,964, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɔʁt\.
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 4369, this pair ranks #431,774 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sommes vs sortes
Shared letters: eos. Private to "sommes": m. Private to "sortes": rt.
"sommes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "sortes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sommes" for "sortes" ever safe?
Frequency check: "sommes" vs "sortes" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sommes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sortes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #431,774 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sommes" and "sortes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sofres vs sortes". 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 #431,774 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.