Which to use
“se” is a pronoun and “spi” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36
- “se” frequency rank
- #49,369
- “spi” frequency rank
- 49405
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | se | spi |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pronom personnel de la troisième personne des deux genres et des deux nombres, utilisé comme complément d’objet d’un verbe transitif direct ou indirect. | Spirituel (au sens religieux). |
Where the eye mixes se and spi
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between se and spi
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: se is \sə\ while spi is \spi\. 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 (pronoun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49405, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
se is recorded at frequency rank #36, classified as apron, pronounced \sə\. spi is at rank #49,369, tagged as anadj, pronounced \spi\.
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 49405, this pair ranks #170,952 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of se vs spi
Shared letters: s. Private to "se": e. Private to "spi": ip.
"se" · 2 letters · shape CV · "spi" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "se" for "spi" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "se" or "spi" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "se" and "spi" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "se" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #170,952 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "se" and "spi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "spi vs suu". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #170,952 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.