sciervsscierieWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: scier is a verb, scierie is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“scier” is a verb and “scierie” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,177
“scier” frequency rank
#28,345
“scierie” frequency rank
72522
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature scier scierie
Definition Couper, fendre avec une scie. Usine où des scies, mises en mouvement par quelque agent naturel ou mécanique, scient en long la pierre, le bois, le marbre, etc.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set scier and scierie apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
scier
7 ch
scierie

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: scier is \sje\ while scierie is \si.ʁi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “scier” sits inside “scierie”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72522, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

scier is recorded at frequency rank #44,177, classified as averb, pronounced \sje\. scierie is at rank #28,345, tagged as anoun, pronounced \si.ʁi\.

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 72522, this pair ranks #43,726 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of scier vs scierie

Shared letters: ceirs. Private to "scier": -. Private to "scierie": -.

"scier" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC  ·  "scierie" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sciercsier · sccier · sceir · scierr · scire · sicer · sscier
  • scieriecsierie · sccierie · sceirie · scieire · scierei · scierrie · scireie · sicerie

Frequency comparison

scier#44,177
scierie#28,345

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "scier" and "scierie" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "scier" is a verb and "scierie" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "scier" or "scierie"?
"scierie" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,345 in our French list, against #44,177 for "scier". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering scier vs scierie

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “scier”; for a noun, it's “scierie”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “scier” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list