sakévssèveWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#43,653
“saké” frequency rank
#23,043
“sève” frequency rank
66696
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature saké sève
Definition Vin de riz japonais, produit par fermentation comme la bière, titrant de 14° à 17°. Liquide nutritif formé des sucs que les racines puisent dans le sol et répandent dans toutes les parties d’un végétal.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set saké and sève apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
saké
4 ch
sève

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. saké (\sa.ke\) and sève (\sɛv\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66696, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

saké is recorded at frequency rank #43,653, classified as anoun, pronounced \sa.ke\. sève is at rank #23,043, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɛv\.

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 66696, this pair ranks #66,678 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of saké vs sève

Shared letters: s. Private to "saké": aké. Private to "sève": evè.

"saké" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "sève" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Frequency comparison

saké#43,653
sève#23,043

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "saké" and "sève" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\sa.ke\ versus \sɛv\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "saké" or "sève"?
"sève" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,043 in our French list, against #43,653 for "saké". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering saké vs sève

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 “saké” 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