subisvssursisWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: subis is a verb, sursis is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“subis” is a verb and “sursis” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,747
“subis” frequency rank
#9,080
“sursis” frequency rank
25827
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature subis sursis
Definition Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de subir. Délai, remise, suspension de l’exécution d’une mesure.

Where the eye mixes subis and sursis

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. subis runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against sursis's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
subis
6 ch
sursis

Look-alike desk: subis vs sursis

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: subis is \sy.bi\ while sursis is \syʁ.si\. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25827, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

subis is recorded at frequency rank #16,747, classified as averb, pronounced \sy.bi\. sursis is at rank #9,080, tagged as anoun, pronounced \syʁ.si\.

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 25827, this pair ranks #338,649 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of subis vs sursis

Shared letters: isu. Private to "subis": b. Private to "sursis": r.

"subis" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "sursis" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • subis ← sbuis · ssubis · subbis · subiss · subsi · suibs · usbis
  • sursis ← srusis · ssursis · suriss · surrsis · sursiss · surssi · surssis · susris

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "subis" and "sursis" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "subis" is a verb and "sursis" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "subis" or "sursis"?
"sursis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,080 in our French list, against #16,747 for "subis". 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 "subis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sursis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #338,649 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "subis" and "sursis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "subis vs surs". 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 #338,649 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