Which to use
“séance” and “séances” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,789
- “séance” frequency rank
- #4,448
- “séances” frequency rank
- 6237
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | séance | séances |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Droit de prendre place dans une compagnie. | Pluriel de séance. |
Same sound, different letters: séance vs séances
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. séance runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against séances's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - séance and séances
This is the hard kind. séance and séances are pronounced identically (\se.ɑ̃s\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “séance” sits inside “séances”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6237, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
séance is recorded at frequency rank #1,789, classified as anoun, pronounced \se.ɑ̃s\. séances is at rank #4,448, tagged as anoun, pronounced \se.ɑ̃s\.
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 6237, this pair ranks #426,777 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of séance vs séances
Shared letters: acensé. Private to "séance": -. Private to "séances": -.
"séance" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "séances" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "séance" and "séances" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "séance" or "séances" show up more?
Useful next steps
You've separated the homophone pair "séance" / "séances". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "séance" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "séances" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #426,777 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "séance" and "séances" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "séances vs sentes". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #426,777 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.