Which to use
“secoué” is a verb and “séjour” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,063
- “secoué” frequency rank
- #2,647
- “séjour” frequency rank
- 20710
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | secoué | séjour |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe passé masculin singulier de secouer. | Demeure, résidence plus ou moins longue dans un lieu, dans un pays. |
Where the eye mixes secoué and séjour
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. secoué (CVCVVV) and séjour (CVCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses secoué with séjour
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: secoué is \sə.kwe\ while séjour is \se.ʒuʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20710, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
secoué is recorded at frequency rank #18,063, classified as averb, pronounced \sə.kwe\. séjour is at rank #2,647, tagged as anoun, pronounced \se.ʒuʁ\.
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 20710, this pair ranks #366,889 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of secoué vs séjour
Shared letters: osué. Private to "secoué": ce. Private to "séjour": jr.
"secoué" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVV · "séjour" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "secoué" for "séjour" ever safe?
Frequency check: "secoué" vs "séjour" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "secoué" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "séjour" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #366,889 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "secoué" and "séjour" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "secoué vs secouent". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #366,889 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.