subitevssuiveTell them apart

Quick tell: subite is a adjective, suive is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#24,402
“subite” frequency rank
#18,330
“suive” frequency rank
42732
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature subite suive
Definition Féminin singulier de subit. Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif du verbe suivre.

Where the eye mixes subite and suive

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
subite
5 ch
suive

Look-alike desk: subite vs suive

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: subite is \sy.bit\ while suive is \sɥiv\. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42732, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

subite is recorded at frequency rank #24,402, classified as anadj, pronounced \sy.bit\. suive is at rank #18,330, tagged as averb, pronounced \sɥiv\.

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 42732, this pair ranks #223,353 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of subite vs suive

Shared letters: eisu. Private to "subite": bt. Private to "suive": v.

"subite" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "suive" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • subitesbuite · ssubite · subbite · subiet · subitte · subtie · suibte · usbite
  • suivesiuve · ssuive · suiev · suivve · suvie · usive

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "subite" and "suive" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "subite" is an adjective and "suive" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "subite" vs "suive" - which ranks higher?
"suive" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,330 in our French list, against #24,402 for "subite". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "subite" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "suive" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #223,353 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "subite" and "suive" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "saboté vs subite". 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 #223,353 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