sesvssezWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ses is a noun, sez is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ses” is a noun and “sez” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,491
“ses” frequency rank
#49,041
“sez” frequency rank
69532
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ses sez
Definition Alternative spelling of sess (sensimilla) Eye dialect spelling of says.

Letter map: ses vs sez

Shared letters muted; letters that set ses and sez apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

3 ch
ses
3 ch
sez

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ses is anoun and sezaverb. On the page they differ by a single letter - s in “ses” becomes z in “sez”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69532, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ses is recorded at frequency rank #20,491, classified as anoun. 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 69532, this pair ranks #54,166 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ses vs sez

Shared letters: es. Private to "ses": -. Private to "sez": z.

"ses" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "sez" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ses" and "sez" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ses" is a noun and "sez" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ses" or "sez"?
"ses" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,491 in our English list, against #49,041 for "sez". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list