Which to use
“spy” is a noun and “sun” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #37,565
- “spy” frequency rank
- #6,897
- “sun” frequency rank
- 44462
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spy | sun |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Espion. | Chanter |
Letter map: spy vs sun
Shared letters muted; letters that set spy and sun apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.
Role in the sentence - spy and sun
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: spy is anoun and sunaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44462, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spy is recorded at frequency rank #37,565, classified as anoun, pronounced \spaɪ\. sun is at rank #6,897, tagged as averb.
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 44462, this pair ranks #210,285 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of spy vs sun
Shared letters: s. Private to "spy": py. Private to "sun": nu.
"spy" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "sun" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "spy" for "sun" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "spy" or "sun" show up more?
Useful next steps
You've compared "spy" and "sun". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "spy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #210,285 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spy" and "sun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "spy vs suu". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #210,285 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.