satvssezWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“sat” and “sez” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,314
“sat” frequency rank
#49,041
“sez” frequency rank
51355
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sat sez
Definition simple past and past participle of sit Eye dialect spelling of says.

Where the eye mixes sat and sez

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
sat
3 ch
sez

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. sat (/sæt/) and sez (/sɛz/) 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 51355, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sat is recorded at frequency rank #2,314, classified as averb, pronounced /sæt/. sez is at rank #49,041, tagged as averb, pronounced /sɛz/.

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 51355, this pair ranks #166,187 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sat vs sez

Shared letters: s. Private to "sat": at. Private to "sez": ez.

"sat" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "sez" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sat" and "sez" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/sæt/ versus /sɛz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "sat" or "sez"?
"sat" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,314 in our English list, against #49,041 for "sez". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list