subivssubitTell them apart

Quick tell: subi is a verb, subit is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“subi” is a verb and “subit” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,024
“subi” frequency rank
#5,613
“subit” frequency rank
9637
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature subi subit
Definition Participe passé masculin singulier de subir. Qui est soudain ; qui arrive tout à coup.

Same sound, different letters: subi vs subit

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters.

4 ch
subi
5 ch
subit

Same sound, different spelling - subi / subit

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: subi and subit carry the same recorded pronunciation, \sy.bi\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “subi” sits inside “subit”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9637, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

subi is recorded at frequency rank #4,024, classified as averb, pronounced \sy.bi\. subit is at rank #5,613, tagged as anadj, pronounced \sy.bi\.

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 9637, this pair ranks #415,953 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of subi vs subit

Shared letters: bisu. Private to "subi": -. Private to "subit": t.

"subi" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "subit" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • subisbui · ssubi · subbi · suib · usbi
  • subitsbuit · ssubit · subbit · subitt · subti · suibt · usbit

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "subi" for "subit" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "subi" is a verb and "subit" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "subi" or "subit" show up more?
"subi" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,024 in our French list, against #5,613 for "subit". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.

  • Full dictionary entry for "subi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "subit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #415,953 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "subi" and "subit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "subi 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 #415,953 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