Which to use
“souffert” and “souffler” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,244
- “souffert” frequency rank
- #11,667
- “souffler” frequency rank
- 17911
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | souffert | souffler |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe passé masculin singulier de souffrir. | Pousser de l’air hors de la bouche. |
Where the eye mixes souffert and souffler
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. souffert (CVVCCVCC) and souffler (CVVCCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between souffert and souffler
A purely visual mix-up. souffert (\su.fɛʁ\) and souffler (\su.fle\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17911, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
souffert is recorded at frequency rank #6,244, classified as averb, pronounced \su.fɛʁ\. souffler is at rank #11,667, tagged as averb, pronounced \su.fle\.
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 17911, this pair ranks #380,862 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of souffert vs souffler
Shared letters: eforsu. Private to "souffert": t. Private to "souffler": l.
"souffert" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC · "souffler" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "souffert" and "souffler" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "souffert" or "souffler" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "souffert" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "souffler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #380,862 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "souffert" and "souffler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "souffler vs soufflerie". 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 #380,862 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.