Which to use
“subi” is a verb and “sul” is an article - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,024
- “subi” frequency rank
- #33,033
- “sul” frequency rank
- 37057
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | subi | sul |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe passé masculin singulier de subir. | Sur le. |
Where the eye mixes subi and sul
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses subi with sul
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: subi is \sy.bi\ while sul is \ˈsul\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs article), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37057, 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\. 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 37057, this pair ranks #265,187 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of subi vs sul
Shared letters: su. Private to "subi": bi. Private to "sul": l.
"subi" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "sul" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- subi ← sbui · ssubi · subbi · suib · usbi
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "subi" for "sul" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "subi" or "sul" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "subi" and "sul" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "subi" 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 #265,187 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "subi" and "sul" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sul 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 #265,187 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.