saigné vs signe, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“saigné” is a verb and “signe” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,358
“saigné” frequency rank: #1,097
“signe” frequency rank: 31455
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	saigné	signe
Definition	Participe passé masculin singulier de saigner.	Indice ou marque d’une chose.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch

saigné

5 ch

signe

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: saigné is \se.ɲe\ while signe is \siɲ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31455, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

saigné is recorded at frequency rank #30,358, classified as averb, pronounced \se.ɲe\. signe is at rank #1,097, tagged as anoun, pronounced \siɲ\.

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 31455, this pair ranks #303,668 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of saigné vs signe

Shared letters: gins. Private to "saigné": aé. Private to "signe": e.

"saigné" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "signe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

signe ← isgne · sgine · sigen · siggne · signne · ssigne

Frequency comparison

saigné#30,358

signe#1,097

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "saigné" and "signe" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "saigné" is a verb and "signe" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "saigné" or "signe"?

"signe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,097 in our French list, against #30,358 for "saigné". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering saigné vs signe

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “saigné”; for a noun, it's “signe”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “saigné” entry
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