Which to use
“suis” is a verb and “sur” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #77
- “suis” frequency rank
- #26
- “sur” frequency rank
- 103
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | suis | sur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de être. | Indique une position plus élevée. |
Where the eye mixes suis and sur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: suis is \sɥi\ while sur is \syʁ\. 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 preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 103, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
suis is recorded at frequency rank #77, classified as averb, pronounced \sɥi\. sur is at rank #26, tagged as aprep, pronounced \syʁ\.
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 103, this pair ranks #440,098 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of suis vs sur
Shared letters: su. Private to "suis": i. Private to "sur": r.
"suis" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "sur" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- suis ← sius · ssuis · suiss · susi · usis
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "suis" and "sur" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "suis" or "sur"?
What to do next
You've compared "suis" and "sur". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "suis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #440,098 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "suis" and "sur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "suis 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
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.