seinsvssetsConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#4,099
“seins” frequency rank
#16,014
“sets” frequency rank
20113
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature seins sets
Definition Pluriel de sein. Pluriel de set.

Where the eye mixes seins and sets

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
seins
4 ch
sets

Visual trap between seins and sets

A purely visual mix-up. seins (\sɛ̃\) and sets (\sɛt\) 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 20113, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

seins is recorded at frequency rank #4,099, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɛ̃\. sets is at rank #16,014, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɛt\.

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 20113, this pair ranks #369,901 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of seins vs sets

Shared letters: es. Private to "seins": in. Private to "sets": t.

"seins" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "sets" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • seinsesins · seinns · seinss · seisn · senis · sseins
  • setsests · sest · setss · setts · ssets · stes

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "seins" and "sets" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\sɛ̃\ versus \sɛt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "seins" vs "sets" - which ranks higher?
"seins" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,099 in our French list, against #16,014 for "sets". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "seins" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sets" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #369,901 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "seins" and "sets" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sepp vs sets". 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 #369,901 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