sucrevssutraWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“sucre” and “sutra” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,742
“sucre” frequency rank
#49,379
“sutra” frequency rank
52121
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sucre sutra
Definition Substance alimentaire de saveur douce et agréable le plus souvent sous forme cristallisée, extraite notamment de la canne à sucre et de la betterave sucrière → voir saccharose. Variante orthographique de soutra.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sucre and sutra apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
sucre
5 ch
sutra

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. sucre (\sykʁ\) and sutra (\su.tʁa\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52121, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sucre is recorded at frequency rank #2,742, classified as anoun, pronounced \sykʁ\. sutra is at rank #49,379, tagged as anoun, pronounced \su.tʁa\.

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 52121, this pair ranks #150,019 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sucre vs sutra

Shared letters: rsu. Private to "sucre": ce. Private to "sutra": at.

"sucre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "sutra" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sucrescure · ssucre · succre · sucrre · surce · uscre
  • sutrassutra · stura · surta · sutar · sutrra · suttra · ustra

Frequency comparison

sucre#2,742
sutra#49,379

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sucre" and "sutra" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\sykʁ\ versus \su.tʁa\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sucre" or "sutra"?
"sucre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,742 in our French list, against #49,379 for "sutra". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering sucre vs sutra

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sucre” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list