Which to use
“su” and “suis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,609
- “su” frequency rank
- #77
- “suis” frequency rank
- 1686
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | su | suis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe passé masculin singulier du verbe savoir. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de être. |
Where the eye mixes su and suis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses su with suis
A purely visual mix-up. su (\sy\) and suis (\sɥi\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “su” sits inside “suis”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1686, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
su is recorded at frequency rank #1,609, classified as averb, pronounced \sy\. suis is at rank #77, tagged as averb, pronounced \sɥi\.
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 1686, this pair ranks #437,575 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of su vs suis
Shared letters: su. Private to "su": -. Private to "suis": i.
"su" · 2 letters · shape CV · "suis" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- suis ← sius · ssuis · suiss · susi · usis
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "su" and "suis" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "su" or "suis" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "su" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "suis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #437,575 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "su" and "suis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "su vs suu". 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 #437,575 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.