Which to use
“souffre” and “suffire” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,804
- “souffre” frequency rank
- #12,678
- “suffire” frequency rank
- 16482
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | souffre | suffire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif du verbe souffrir. | Pouvoir satisfaire à quelque chose ou à un but donné. |
Where the eye mixes souffre and suffire
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. souffre (CVVCCCV) and suffire (CVCCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between souffre and suffire
A purely visual mix-up. souffre (\sufʁ\) and suffire (\sy.fiʁ\) 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 16482, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
souffre is recorded at frequency rank #3,804, classified as averb, pronounced \sufʁ\. suffire is at rank #12,678, tagged as averb, pronounced \sy.fiʁ\.
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 16482, this pair ranks #387,644 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of souffre vs suffire
Shared letters: efrsu. Private to "souffre": o. Private to "suffire": i.
"souffre" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCCV · "suffire" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "souffre" and "suffire" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "souffre" vs "suffire" - which ranks higher?
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 "souffre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "suffire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #387,644 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "souffre" and "suffire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "suffire vs suffise". 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 #387,644 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.