Which to use
“suive” and “survive” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,330
- “suive” frequency rank
- #33,035
- “survive” frequency rank
- 51365
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | suive | survive |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif du verbe suivre. | Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de survivre. |
Where the eye mixes suive and survive
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. suive runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against survive's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses suive with survive
A purely visual mix-up. suive (\sɥiv\) and survive (\syʁ.viv\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51365, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
suive is recorded at frequency rank #18,330, classified as averb, pronounced \sɥiv\. survive is at rank #33,035, tagged as averb, pronounced \syʁ.viv\.
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 51365, this pair ranks #155,576 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of suive vs survive
Shared letters: eisuv. Private to "suive": -. Private to "survive": r.
"suive" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "survive" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "suive" and "survive" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "suive" or "survive"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "suive" and "survive" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "suive" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "survive" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #155,576 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "suive" and "survive" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "servile vs survive". 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 #155,576 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.