seinvssriConfusable pair

Quick tell: sein is a noun, sri is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sein” is a noun and “sri” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#746
“sein” frequency rank
#16,017
“sri” frequency rank
16763
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sein sri
Definition Partie antérieure du thorax humain, où se trouvent les mamelles. se Moquer

Letter map: sein vs sri

Shared letters muted; letters that set sein and sri apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
sein
3 ch
sri

Role in the sentence - sein and sri

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: sein is anoun and sriaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16763, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sein is recorded at frequency rank #746, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɛ̃\. sri is at rank #16,017, tagged as averb.

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 16763, this pair ranks #386,374 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sein vs sri

Shared letters: is. Private to "sein": en. Private to "sri": r.

"sein" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "sri" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • seinesin · seinn · seni · ssein

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "sein" for "sri" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sein" is a noun and "sri" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sein" or "sri"?
"sein" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #746 in our French list, against #16,017 for "sri". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "sein" and "sri".

  • Full dictionary entry for "sein" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sri" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #386,374 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sein" and "sri" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sri vs suu". 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 #386,374 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list