secoursvsséjourWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,889
“secours” frequency rank
#2,647
“séjour” frequency rank
4536
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature secours séjour
Definition Aide, assistance dans le danger, dans le besoin. Demeure, résidence plus ou moins longue dans un lieu, dans un pays.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set secours and séjour apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
secours
6 ch
séjour

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. secours (\sə.kuʁ\) and séjour (\se.ʒuʁ\) 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 4536, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

secours is recorded at frequency rank #1,889, classified as anoun, pronounced \sə.kuʁ\. 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 4536, this pair ranks #431,361 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of secours vs séjour

Shared letters: orsu. Private to "secours": ce. Private to "séjour": .

"secours" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC  ·  "séjour" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • secoursescours · sceours · seccours · secorus · secourrs · secourss · secousr · secuors

Frequency comparison

secours#1,889
séjour#2,647

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "secours" and "séjour" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\sə.kuʁ\ versus \se.ʒuʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "secours" or "séjour"?
"secours" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,889 in our French list, against #2,647 for "séjour". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering secours vs séjour

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 “secours” 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