surpoidsvssurprisWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: surpoids is a noun, surpris is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“surpoids” is a noun and “surpris” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,000
“surpoids” frequency rank
#2,495
“surpris” frequency rank
22495
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature surpoids surpris
Definition Surcharge pondérale ; obésité. Qui est sous l’effet de la surprise, de l’étonnement.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set surpoids and surpris apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
surpoids
7 ch
surpris

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: surpoids is \syʁ.pwa\ while surpris is \syʁ.pʁi\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22495, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

surpoids is recorded at frequency rank #20,000, classified as anoun, pronounced \syʁ.pwa\. surpris is at rank #2,495, tagged as anadj, pronounced \syʁ.pʁi\.

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 22495, this pair ranks #357,673 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of surpoids vs surpris

Shared letters: iprsu. Private to "surpoids": do. Private to "surpris": -.

"surpoids" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC  ·  "surpris" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • surpoidssrupoids · ssurpoids · suproids · suropids · surpiods · surpodis · surpoidds · surpoidss
  • surprissrupris · ssurpris · suprris · surpirs · surppris · surpriss · surprris · surprsi

Frequency comparison

surpoids#20,000
surpris#2,495

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "surpoids" and "surpris" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "surpoids" is a noun and "surpris" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "surpoids" or "surpris"?
"surpris" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,495 in our French list, against #20,000 for "surpoids". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering surpoids vs surpris

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “surpoids”; for an adjective, it's “surpris”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “surpoids” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list