Which to use
“scala” and “seals” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,587
- “scala” frequency rank
- #48,199
- “seals” frequency rank
- 84786
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | scala | seals |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de scaler. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe to seal. |
Where the eye mixes scala and seals
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. scala (CCVCV) and seals (CVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: scala vs seals
A purely visual mix-up. scala (\ska.la\) and seals (\siːl\) 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 84786, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
scala is recorded at frequency rank #36,587, classified as averb, pronounced \ska.la\. seals is at rank #48,199, tagged as averb, pronounced \siːl\.
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 84786, this pair ranks #12,381 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of scala vs seals
Shared letters: als. Private to "scala": c. Private to "seals": e.
"scala" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "seals" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "scala" for "seals" ever safe?
Frequency check: "scala" vs "seals" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "scala" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "seals" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #12,381 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "scala" and "seals" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seals vs sépales". 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 #12,381 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.