Which to use
“seem” is a verb and “ses” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #883
- “seem” frequency rank
- #20,491
- “ses” frequency rank
- 21374
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | seem | ses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To appear; to look outwardly; to be perceived as. | Alternative spelling of sess (sensimilla) |
Letter map: seem vs ses
Shared letters muted; letters that set seem and ses apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: seem is averb and sesanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21374, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
seem is recorded at frequency rank #883, classified as averb, pronounced /siːm/. ses is at rank #20,491, tagged as anoun.
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 21374, this pair ranks #424,375 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of seem vs ses
Shared letters: es. Private to "seem": m. Private to "ses": -.
"seem" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "ses" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- seem ← esem · seemm · seme · sseem