Which to use
“sais” and “san” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #188
- “sais” frequency rank
- #2,493
- “san” frequency rank
- 2681
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sais | san |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | En Inde, palefrenier qui accompagne son maître lors de ses sorties à cheval. | Ϻ et ϻ, ancienne lettre de l’alphabet grec. |
Where the eye mixes sais and san
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: sais vs san
A purely visual mix-up. sais (\sɛ\) and san (\san\) 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 2681, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sais is recorded at frequency rank #188, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɛ\. san is at rank #2,493, tagged as anoun, pronounced \san\.
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 2681, this pair ranks #435,666 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sais vs san
Shared letters: as. Private to "sais": i. Private to "san": n.
"sais" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "san" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- sais ← asis · saiss · sasi · sias · ssais
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sais" and "san" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "sais" or "san"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "san" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #435,666 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sais" and "san" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "san vs suu". 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 #435,666 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.