séancevssenteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“séance” and “sente” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,789
“séance” frequency rank
#13,474
“sente” frequency rank
15263
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature séance sente
Definition Droit de prendre place dans une compagnie. Petit sentier ou petite voie, souvent non goudronnée, et passant au travers des bois.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set séance and sente apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
séance
5 ch
sente

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. séance (\se.ɑ̃s\) and sente (\sɑ̃t\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15263, 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\. sente is at rank #13,474, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɑ̃t\.

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 15263, this pair ranks #393,121 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of séance vs sente

Shared letters: ens. Private to "séance": acé. Private to "sente": t.

"séance" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "sente" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • senteesnte · senet · sennte · sentte · setne · snete · ssente

Frequency comparison

séance#1,789
sente#13,474

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "séance" and "sente" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\se.ɑ̃s\ versus \sɑ̃t\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "séance" or "sente"?
"séance" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,789 in our French list, against #13,474 for "sente". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering séance vs sente

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “séance” 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