Which to use
“souriez” and “sourire” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,603
- “souriez” frequency rank
- #1,757
- “sourire” frequency rank
- 34360
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | souriez | sourire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de sourire. | Rire sans éclat, par un léger mouvement de la bouche et du visage. |
Where the eye mixes souriez and sourire
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. souriez (CVVCVVC) and sourire (CVVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between souriez and sourire
A purely visual mix-up. souriez (\su.ʁi.je\) and sourire (\su.ʁiʁ\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34360, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
souriez is recorded at frequency rank #32,603, classified as averb, pronounced \su.ʁi.je\. sourire is at rank #1,757, tagged as averb, pronounced \su.ʁiʁ\.
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 34360, this pair ranks #284,386 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of souriez vs sourire
Shared letters: eiorsu. Private to "souriez": z. Private to "sourire": -.
"souriez" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC · "sourire" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "souriez" for "sourire" ever safe?
Frequency check: "souriez" vs "sourire" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "souriez" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sourire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #284,386 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "souriez" and "sourire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sourdes vs souriez". 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 #284,386 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.