Français homophones

cerf/cerfs/serfs/serrent/sers/sert

"cerf" is a noun; "serfs" is an adjective - grammar picks the spelling, not sound. Size rank #20 of 9,139 French groups.

Data vintage 2026-05-06

Grammar picks the spelling

Same sound, different grammar: "cerf" arrives as a noun, while "serfs" is an adjective. Once the sentence role is fixed, only one spelling fits.

Spelling pairs in this cluster

Shared stem "cerf" then splits - "cerf" (4 letters) vs "cerfs" (5).
No shared spelling stem: "cerf" is 4 letters, "serfs" is 5; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "cerf" is 4 letters, "serrent" is 7; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "cerf" is 4 letters, "sers" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "cerf" is 4 letters, "sert" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "cerfs" is 5 letters, "serfs" is 5; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "cerfs" is 5 letters, "serrent" is 7; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "cerfs" is 5 letters, "sers" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "cerfs" is 5 letters, "sert" is 4; only the sound ties them.
Shared stem "ser" then splits - "serfs" (5 letters) vs "serrent" (7).
Shared stem "ser" then splits - "serfs" (5 letters) vs "sers" (4).
Shared stem "ser" then splits - "serfs" (5 letters) vs "sert" (4).
Shared stem "ser" then splits - "serrent" (7 letters) vs "sers" (4).
Shared stem "ser" then splits - "serrent" (7 letters) vs "sert" (4).
Single-letter fork: "sers" keeps s, "sert" writes t at letter 4.

Orthographic DNA of this cluster

Shared letters across cerf, cerfs, serfs, serrent, sers, sert: er. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.

cerf
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCC
Inventory cefr · private cf
cerfs
5 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCCC
Inventory cefrs · private cfs
serfs
5 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCCC
Inventory efrs · private fs
serrent
7 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVCCVCC
Inventory enrst · private nst
sers
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCC
Inventory ers · private s
sert
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCC
Inventory erst · private st

Pick the spelling from the meaning

Write "cerf" when you mean: Cervidé qui porte sur la tête des cornes ramifiées appelées « bois ».
Write "cerfs" when you mean: Pluriel de cerf.
Write "serfs" when you mean: Masculin pluriel de serf.
Write "serrent" when you mean: Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de serrer.
Write "sers" when you mean: Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de servir.
Write "sert" when you mean: Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de servir.

Known mistypes of these spellings

Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.

cerf ← ccerf · cefr · cerff · cerrf · cref · ecrf
cerfs ← ccerfs · cefrs · cerffs · cerfss · cerrfs · cersf
serfs ← esrfs · sefrs · serffs · serfss · serrfs · sersf
serrent ← esrrent · serent · serernt · serrennt · serrentt · serretn
sers ← esrs · serrs · serss · sesr · sres · ssers
sert ← esrt · serrt · sertt · setr · sret · ssert

Each spelling

cerf

noun · /\sɛʁ\/ · #9,795 frequency

Cervidé qui porte sur la tête des cornes ramifiées appelées « bois ».

cerfs

noun · /\sɛʁ\/ · #20,665 frequency

Pluriel de cerf.

serfs

adjective · /\sɛʁ\/ · #38,042 frequency

Masculin pluriel de serf.

serrent

verb · /\sɛʁ\/ · #32,595 frequency

Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de serrer.

sers

verb · /\sɛʁ\/ · #9,390 frequency

Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de servir.

sert

verb · /\sɛʁ\/ · #1,073 frequency

Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de servir.