Which to use
“scie” and “soin” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,863
- “scie” frequency rank
- #1,681
- “soin” frequency rank
- 14544
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | scie | soin |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Outil, instrument ou machine possédant une lame dentée (rectiligne ou circulaire) et dont on se sert pour scier. | Application d’esprit à faire quelque chose ; attention à veiller au bon état de quelque chose, au bien de quelqu’un. |
Where the eye mixes scie and soin
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. scie (CCVV) and soin (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between scie and soin
A purely visual mix-up. scie (\si\) and soin (\swɛ̃\) 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 14544, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
scie is recorded at frequency rank #12,863, classified as anoun, pronounced \si\. soin is at rank #1,681, tagged as anoun, pronounced \swɛ̃\.
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 14544, this pair ranks #396,215 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of scie vs soin
Shared letters: is. Private to "scie": ce. Private to "soin": no.
"scie" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "soin" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "scie" for "soin" ever safe?
Which is more common, "scie" or "soin"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "scie" and "soin" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "scie" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "soin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #396,215 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "scie" and "soin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "scie vs spi". 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 #396,215 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.