Which to use
“says” and “sers” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,038
- “says” frequency rank
- #9,390
- “sers” frequency rank
- 51428
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | says | sers |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du présent de say. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de servir. |
Where the eye mixes says and sers
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses says with sers
A purely visual mix-up. says (\sɛz\) and sers (\sɛʁ\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51428, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
says is recorded at frequency rank #42,038, classified as averb, pronounced \sɛz\. sers is at rank #9,390, tagged as averb, pronounced \sɛʁ\.
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 51428, this pair ranks #155,072 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of says vs sers
Shared letters: s. Private to "says": ay. Private to "sers": er.
"says" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "sers" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "says" for "sers" ever safe?
Frequency check: "says" vs "sers" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "says" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sers" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #155,072 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "says" and "sers" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "says 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 #155,072 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.