Français homophones

ci/scie/sea/si/sis/sit

"ci" is an adverb; "scie" is a noun - 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: "ci" arrives as an adverb, while "scie" is a noun. Once the sentence role is fixed, only one spelling fits.

Spelling pairs in this cluster

No shared spelling stem: "ci" is 2 letters, "scie" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "ci" is 2 letters, "sea" is 3; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "ci" is 2 letters, "si" is 2; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "ci" is 2 letters, "sis" is 3; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "ci" is 2 letters, "sit" is 3; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "scie" is 4 letters, "sea" is 3; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "scie" is 4 letters, "si" is 2; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "scie" is 4 letters, "sis" is 3; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "scie" is 4 letters, "sit" is 3; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "sea" is 3 letters, "si" is 2; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "sea" is 3 letters, "sis" is 3; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "sea" is 3 letters, "sit" is 3; only the sound ties them.
Shared stem "si" then splits - "si" (2 letters) vs "sis" (3).
Shared stem "si" then splits - "si" (2 letters) vs "sit" (3).
Single-letter fork: "sis" keeps s, "sit" writes t at letter 3.

Orthographic DNA of this cluster

Shared letters across ci, scie, sea, si, sis, sit: none. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.

ci
2 letters · 1 vowels · shape CV
Inventory ci · private ci
scie
4 letters · 2 vowels · shape CCVV
Inventory ceis · private ceis
sea
3 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVV
Inventory aes · private aes
si
2 letters · 1 vowels · shape CV
Inventory is · private is
sis
3 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVC
Inventory is · private is
sit
3 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVC
Inventory ist · private ist

Pick the spelling from the meaning

Write "ci" when you mean: ou (Utilisé uniquement dans les compositions, pas utilisé isolément) Ici.
Write "scie" when you mean: Outil, instrument ou machine possédant une lame dentée (rectiligne ou circulaire) et dont on se sert pour scier.
Write "sea" when you mean: Mer.
Write "si" when you mean: Dans le cas où, à condition que, supposé que. Note d’usage : Conjonction qui introduit une condition (suivie d’une conséquence) ou une su…
Write "sis" when you mean: Qui est situé.
Write "sit" when you mean: Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de seoir.

Known mistypes of these spellings

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

scie ← csie · sccie · scei · sice · sscie

Each spelling

adverb · /\si\/ · #264 frequency

ou (Utilisé uniquement dans les compositions, pas utilisé isolément) Ici.

scie

noun · /\si\/ · #12,863 frequency

Outil, instrument ou machine possédant une lame dentée (rectiligne ou circulaire) et dont on se sert pour scier.

sea

noun · /\siː\/ · #13,258 frequency

Mer.

conjunction · /\si\/ · #46 frequency

Dans le cas où, à condition que, supposé que. Note d’usage : Conjonction qui introduit une condition (suivie d’une conséquence) ou une supposition qui peut être supprimée en utilisant un conditionnel.

sis

adjective · /\si\/ · #19,157 frequency

Qui est situé.

sit

verb · /\si\/ · #19,990 frequency

Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de seoir.