sortie vs sorts, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#623
“sortie” frequency rank: #20,577
“sorts” frequency rank: 21200
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	sortie	sorts
Definition	Action de sortir.	Pluriel de sort.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sortie and sorts apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

sortie

5 ch

sorts

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. sortie (\sɔʁ.ti\) and sorts (\sɔʁ\) 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 21200, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sortie is recorded at frequency rank #623, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɔʁ.ti\. sorts is at rank #20,577, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɔʁ\.

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 21200, this pair ranks #364,387 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sortie vs sorts

Shared letters: orst. Private to "sortie": ei. Private to "sorts": -.

"sortie" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "sorts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

sortie ← osrtie · sorite · sorrtie · sortei · sorttie · sotrie · srotie · ssortie
sorts ← osrts · sorrts · sorst · sortss · sortts · sotrs · srots · ssorts

Frequency comparison

sortie#623

sorts#20,577

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sortie" and "sorts" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (\sɔʁ.ti\ versus \sɔʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "sortie" or "sorts"?

"sortie" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #623 in our French list, against #20,577 for "sorts". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering sortie vs sorts

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 “sortie” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable