sortentvssoutenuWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sortent is a verb, soutenu is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sortent” is a verb and “soutenu” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,803
“sortent” frequency rank
#3,644
“soutenu” frequency rank
7447
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sortent soutenu
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de sortir. Caractère constamment élevé dans l’expression orale ou écrite, emprunt de noblesse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sortent and soutenu apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
sortent
7 ch
soutenu

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sortent is \sɔʁt\ while soutenu is \sut.ny\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7447, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sortent is recorded at frequency rank #3,803, classified as averb, pronounced \sɔʁt\. soutenu is at rank #3,644, tagged as anadj, pronounced \sut.ny\.

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 7447, this pair ranks #423,135 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sortent vs soutenu

Shared letters: enost. Private to "sortent": r. Private to "soutenu": u.

"sortent" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "soutenu" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sortentosrtent · soretnt · sorrtent · sortennt · sortentt · sortetn · sortnet · sorttent
  • soutenuosutenu · sotuenu · souetnu · soutennu · souteun · soutneu · souttenu · ssoutenu

Frequency comparison

sortent#3,803
soutenu#3,644

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sortent" and "soutenu" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sortent" is a verb and "soutenu" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sortent" or "soutenu"?
"soutenu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,644 in our French list, against #3,803 for "sortent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sortent vs soutenu

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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