Which to use
“sama” is a noun and “sem” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #37,549
- “sama” frequency rank
- #19,985
- “sem” frequency rank
- 57534
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sama | sem |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Élephant. | Sans. |
Where the eye mixes sama and sem
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sama with sem
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sama is \sà.ma\ while sem is \sɐ̃j\. 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 (noun vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57534, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sama is recorded at frequency rank #37,549, classified as anoun, pronounced \sà.ma\. sem is at rank #19,985, tagged as aprep, pronounced \sɐ̃j\.
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 57534, this pair ranks #114,470 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sama vs sem
Shared letters: ms. Private to "sama": a. Private to "sem": e.
"sama" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "sem" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- sama ← asma · saam · samma · smaa · ssama
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sama" for "sem" ever safe?
Which is more common, "sama" or "sem"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sama" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #114,470 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sama" and "sem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sama vs soya". 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 #114,470 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.