Which to use
“semelles” and “semences” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,808
- “semelles” frequency rank
- #14,362
- “semences” frequency rank
- 40170
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | semelles | semences |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de semelle. | Pluriel de semence. |
Where the eye mixes semelles and semences
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. semelles and semences follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between semelles and semences
A purely visual mix-up. semelles (\sə.mɛl\) and semences (\sə.mɑ̃s\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40170, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
semelles is recorded at frequency rank #25,808, classified as anoun, pronounced \sə.mɛl\. semences is at rank #14,362, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sə.mɑ̃s\.
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 40170, this pair ranks #242,495 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of semelles vs semences
Shared letters: ems. Private to "semelles": l. Private to "semences": cn.
"semelles" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "semences" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "semelles" and "semences" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "semelles" vs "semences" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "semelles" and "semences" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "semelles" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "semences" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #242,495 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "semelles" and "semences" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "scellés vs semelles". 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 #242,495 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.