secoursvsséjoursWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,889
“secours” frequency rank
#12,489
“séjours” frequency rank
14378
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature secours séjours
Definition Aide, assistance dans le danger, dans le besoin. Pluriel de séjour.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set secours and séjours apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
secours
7 ch
séjours

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. secours (\sə.kuʁ\) and séjours (\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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14378, 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\. séjours is at rank #12,489, 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 14378, this pair ranks #396,944 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of secours vs séjours

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

"secours" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC  ·  "séjours" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

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

Frequency comparison

secours#1,889
séjours#12,489

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "secours" and "séjours" 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 "séjours"?
"secours" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,889 in our French list, against #12,489 for "séjours". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering secours vs séjours

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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list