suffivssuiviWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#12,260
“suffi” frequency rank
#1,076
“suivi” frequency rank
13336
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature suffi suivi
Definition Participe passé masculin singulier de suffire. Ce qui est continu, sans interruption.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
suffi
5 ch
suivi

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: suffi is \sy.fi\ while suivi is \sɥi.vi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13336, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

suffi is recorded at frequency rank #12,260, classified as averb, pronounced \sy.fi\. suivi is at rank #1,076, tagged as anadj, pronounced \sɥi.vi\.

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 13336, this pair ranks #401,433 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of suffi vs suivi

Shared letters: isu. Private to "suffi": f. Private to "suivi": v.

"suffi" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "suivi" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • suffisfufi · ssuffi · sufi · sufif · usffi
  • suivisiuvi · ssuivi · suiiv · suivvi · suvii · usivi

Frequency comparison

suffi#12,260
suivi#1,076

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "suffi" and "suivi" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "suffi" is a verb and "suivi" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "suffi" or "suivi"?
"suivi" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,076 in our French list, against #12,260 for "suffi". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering suffi vs suivi

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “suffi”; for an adjective, it's “suivi”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “suffi” 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