censées vs sensée, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“censées” and “sensée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#20,384
“censées” frequency rank: #21,769
“sensée” frequency rank: 42153
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	censées	sensée
Definition	Féminin pluriel de censé.	Féminin singulier de sensé.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set censées and sensée apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

censées

6 ch

sensée

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. censées and sensée are pronounced identically (\sɑ̃.se\) and both work as anadjective. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42153, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

censées is recorded at frequency rank #20,384, classified as anadj, pronounced \sɑ̃.se\. sensée is at rank #21,769, tagged as anadj, pronounced \sɑ̃.se\.

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 42153, this pair ranks #227,811 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of censées vs sensée

Shared letters: ensé. Private to "censées": c. Private to "sensée": -.

"censées" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "sensée" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Frequency comparison

censées#20,384

sensée#21,769

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "censées" and "sensée" be used interchangeably?

No. They are pronounced the same (\sɑ̃.se\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.

Which is more common, "censées" or "sensée"?

"censées" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,384 in our French list, against #21,769 for "sensée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering censées vs sensée

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “censées” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable