sourdevssourdesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sourde is a noun, sourdes is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sourde” is a noun and “sourdes” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,569
“sourde” frequency rank
#42,062
“sourdes” frequency rank
56631
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sourde sourdes
Definition Femme sourde. Féminin pluriel de sourd.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sourde and sourdes apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
sourde
7 ch
sourdes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: sourde and sourdes carry the same recorded pronunciation, \suʁd\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “sourde” sits inside “sourdes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56631, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sourde is recorded at frequency rank #14,569, classified as anoun, pronounced \suʁd\. sourdes is at rank #42,062, tagged as anadj, pronounced \suʁd\.

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 56631, this pair ranks #119,899 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sourde vs sourdes

Shared letters: deorsu. Private to "sourde": -. Private to "sourdes": -.

"sourde" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "sourdes" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sourdeosurde · sorude · soudre · sourdde · soured · sourrde · ssourde · suorde
  • sourdesosurdes · sorudes · soudres · sourddes · sourdess · sourdse · soureds · sourrdes

Frequency comparison

sourde#14,569
sourdes#42,062

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sourde" and "sourdes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sourde" is a noun and "sourdes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sourde" or "sourdes"?
"sourde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,569 in our French list, against #42,062 for "sourdes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sourde vs sourdes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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