Which to use
“seizième” and “sixième” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,571
- “seizième” frequency rank
- #4,380
- “sixième” frequency rank
- 24951
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | seizième | sixième |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui vient après le quinzième. | Qui concerne l’ordinal correspondant au cardinal six. |
Where the eye mixes seizième and sixième
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. seizième runs 8 letters (CVVCVVCV) against sixième's 7 (CVCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses seizième with sixième
A purely visual mix-up. seizième (\sɛ.zjɛm\) and sixième (\si.zjɛm\) 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 24951, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
seizième is recorded at frequency rank #20,571, classified as anadj, pronounced \sɛ.zjɛm\. sixième is at rank #4,380, tagged as anadj, pronounced \si.zjɛm\.
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 24951, this pair ranks #343,618 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of seizième vs sixième
Shared letters: eimsè. Private to "seizième": z. Private to "sixième": x.
"seizième" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVVCV · "sixième" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "seizième" for "sixième" ever safe?
Which is more common, "seizième" or "sixième"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "seizième" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sixième" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #343,618 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "seizième" and "sixième" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seizième vs XVIe". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #343,618 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.