Which to use
“sage” and “space” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,960
- “sage” frequency rank
- #8,162
- “space” frequency rank
- 12122
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sage | space |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est prudent, circonspect, judicieux ; qui a un sentiment juste des choses. | Spécial, étrange, qui sort de l’ordinaire. |
Where the eye mixes sage and space
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sage with space
A purely visual mix-up. sage (\saʒ\) and space (\spɛs\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12122, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sage is recorded at frequency rank #3,960, classified as anadj, pronounced \saʒ\. space is at rank #8,162, tagged as anadj, pronounced \spɛs\.
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 12122, this pair ranks #406,499 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sage vs space
Shared letters: aes. Private to "sage": g. Private to "space": cp.
"sage" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "space" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sage" and "space" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "sage" or "space" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sage" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "space" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #406,499 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sage" and "space" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "space vs stase". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #406,499 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.