Which to use
“ste” is a verb and “sul” is an article - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,412
- “ste” frequency rank
- #33,033
- “sul” frequency rank
- 43445
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ste | sul |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de stare. | Sur le. |
Where the eye mixes ste and sul
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ste vs sul
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ste is \ˈstɛ\ while sul is \ˈsul\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs article), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43445, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ste is recorded at frequency rank #10,412, classified as averb, pronounced \ˈstɛ\. sul is at rank #33,033, tagged as anarticle, pronounced \ˈsul\.
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 43445, this pair ranks #218,017 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ste vs sul
Shared letters: s. Private to "ste": et. Private to "sul": lu.
"ste" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "sul" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ste" for "sul" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ste" vs "sul" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sul" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #218,017 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ste" and "sul" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sul vs suu". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #218,017 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.