ssvssusTell them apart

Which to use

“ss” and “sus” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#6,347
“ss” frequency rank
#12,488
“sus” frequency rank
18835
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ss sus
Definition Et suivante, et suivantes. Dessus.

Where the eye mixes ss and sus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

2 ch
ss
3 ch
sus

Visual trap between ss and sus

A purely visual mix-up. ss (\et sɥi.vɑ̃\) and sus (\sys\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18835, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ss is recorded at frequency rank #6,347, classified as anadv, pronounced \et sɥi.vɑ̃\. sus is at rank #12,488, tagged as anadv, pronounced \sys\.

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 18835, this pair ranks #376,345 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ss vs sus

Shared letters: s. Private to "ss": -. Private to "sus": u.

"ss" · 2 letters · shape CC  ·  "sus" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ss" and "sus" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\et sɥi.vɑ̃\ versus \sys\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ss" or "sus"?
"ss" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,347 in our French list, against #12,488 for "sus". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ss" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #376,345 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ss" and "sus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sus vs suu". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #376,345 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list