seméevssemisWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: semée is a adjective, semis is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“semée” is an adjective and “semis” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,039
“semée” frequency rank
#20,280
“semis” frequency rank
67319
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature semée semis
Definition Féminin singulier de semé. Mise en terre des semences ; action de semer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set semée and semis apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
semée
5 ch
semis

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: semée is \sə.me\ while semis is \sə.mi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67319, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

semée is recorded at frequency rank #47,039, classified as anadj, pronounced \sə.me\. semis is at rank #20,280, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sə.mi\.

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 67319, this pair ranks #63,919 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of semée vs semis

Shared letters: ems. Private to "semée": é. Private to "semis": i.

"semée" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "semis" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • semisesmis · seims · semiss · semmis · semsi · smeis · ssemis

Frequency comparison

semée#47,039
semis#20,280

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "semée" and "semis" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "semée" is an adjective and "semis" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "semée" or "semis"?
"semis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,280 in our French list, against #47,039 for "semée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering semée vs semis

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “semée”; for a noun, it's “semis”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “semée” 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