Which to use
“says” is a verb and “ses” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,038
- “says” frequency rank
- #67
- “ses” frequency rank
- 42105
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | says | ses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du présent de say. | Pluriel des déterminants possessifs son et sa. Qui sont à lui ou à elle. Note d’usage : Un seul possesseur et plusieurs objets. |
Where the eye mixes says and ses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses says with ses
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: says is \sɛz\ while ses is \se\. 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 (verb vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42105, 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\. ses is at rank #67, tagged as adet, pronounced \se\.
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 42105, this pair ranks #228,193 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of says vs ses
Shared letters: s. Private to "says": ay. Private to "ses": e.
"says" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "ses" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- says ← asys · sasy · sayss · sayys · ssays · syas
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "says" and "ses" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "says" vs "ses" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "says" and "ses" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "says" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #228,193 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "says" and "ses" 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 #228,193 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.