Which to use
“samples” is a noun and “sembles” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #47,034
- “samples” frequency rank
- #17,004
- “sembles” frequency rank
- 64038
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | samples | sembles |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de sample. | Deuxième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de sembler. |
Where the eye mixes samples and sembles
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between samples and sembles
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: samples is \sɑ̃pl\ while sembles is \sɑ̃bl\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64038, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
samples is recorded at frequency rank #47,034, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɑ̃pl\. sembles is at rank #17,004, tagged as averb, pronounced \sɑ̃bl\.
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 64038, this pair ranks #78,989 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of samples vs sembles
Shared letters: elms. Private to "samples": ap. Private to "sembles": b.
"samples" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "sembles" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "samples" for "sembles" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "samples" or "sembles" 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 "samples" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sembles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #78,989 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "samples" and "sembles" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "samples vs simplet". 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 #78,989 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.