censésvssenséeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,654
“censés” frequency rank
#21,769
“sensée” frequency rank
32423
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature censés sensée
Definition Masculin pluriel de censé. Féminin singulier de sensé.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set censés and sensée apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
censés
6 ch
sensée

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. censés 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32423, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

censés is recorded at frequency rank #10,654, 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 32423, this pair ranks #297,396 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of censés vs sensée

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

"censés" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "sensée" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Frequency comparison

censés#10,654
sensée#21,769

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "censés" 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, "censés" or "sensée"?
"censés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,654 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 censés 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 “censés” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list