séancesvssentesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,448
“séances” frequency rank
#42,044
“sentes” frequency rank
46492
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature séances sentes
Definition Pluriel de séance. Pluriel de sente.

Where the eye mixes séances and sentes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. séances runs 7 letters (CVVCCVC) against sentes's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
séances
6 ch
sentes

Look-alike desk: séances vs sentes

A purely visual mix-up. séances (\se.ɑ̃s\) and sentes (\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 46492, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

séances is recorded at frequency rank #4,448, classified as anoun, pronounced \se.ɑ̃s\. sentes is at rank #42,044, 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 46492, this pair ranks #194,501 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of séances vs sentes

Shared letters: ens. Private to "séances": acé. Private to "sentes": t.

"séances" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "sentes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sentes ← esntes · senets · senntes · sentess · sentse · senttes · setnes · snetes

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "séances" and "sentes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
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, "séances" or "sentes"?
"séances" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,448 in our French list, against #42,044 for "sentes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "séances" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sentes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #194,501 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "séances" and "sentes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sémites vs sentes". 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 #194,501 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list