Which to use
“seconde” is an adjective and “sonde” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #677
- “seconde” frequency rank
- #7,902
- “sonde” frequency rank
- 8579
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | seconde | sonde |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de second. | Instrument qui sert à sonder. — Il se dit particulièrement d’un plomb attaché à une corde et dont on use pour connaître la profondeur de la mer, d’une rivière, la nature du fond, etc. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set seconde and sonde apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
seconde and sonde form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8579, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
seconde is recorded at frequency rank #677, classified as anadj, pronounced \sə.ɡɔ̃d\. sonde is at rank #7,902, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɔ̃d\.
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 8579, this pair ranks #419,550 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "seconde" and "sonde" be used interchangeably?
Remembering seconde vs sonde
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “seconde”; for a noun, it's “sonde”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “seconde” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable