Which to use
“section” and “sélection” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,574
- “section” frequency rank
- #1,684
- “sélection” frequency rank
- 3258
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | section | sélection |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action de couper, de diviser ou résultat de cette action. | Action de choisir ou résultat de ce choix. |
Where the eye mixes section and sélection
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: section vs sélection
A purely visual mix-up. section (\sɛk.sjɔ̃\) and sélection (\se.lɛk.sjɔ̃\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3258, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
section is recorded at frequency rank #1,574, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɛk.sjɔ̃\. sélection is at rank #1,684, tagged as anoun, pronounced \se.lɛk.sjɔ̃\.
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 3258, this pair ranks #434,445 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of section vs sélection
Shared letters: ceinost. Private to "section": -. Private to "sélection": lé.
"section" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "sélection" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- section ← esction · scetion · secction · seciton · sectino · sectionn · sectoin · secttion
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "section" for "sélection" ever safe?
Which is more common, "section" or "sélection"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "section" and "sélection" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "section" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sélection" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #434,445 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "section" and "sélection" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "section vs sédation". 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 #434,445 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.