semencevssentenceWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#24,029
“semence” frequency rank
#10,407
“sentence” frequency rank
34436
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature semence sentence
Definition Élément originaire d’un être. Apophtegme, maxime, opinion exprimée d’une manière dogmatique.

Where the eye mixes semence and sentence

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. semence runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against sentence's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
semence
8 ch
sentence

Look-alike desk: semence vs sentence

A purely visual mix-up. semence (\sə.mɑ̃s\) and sentence (\sɑ̃.tɑ̃s\) 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 34436, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

semence is recorded at frequency rank #24,029, classified as anoun, pronounced \sə.mɑ̃s\. sentence is at rank #10,407, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɑ̃.tɑ̃s\.

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 34436, this pair ranks #283,837 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of semence vs sentence

Shared letters: cens. Private to "semence": m. Private to "sentence": t.

"semence" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "sentence" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • semence ← esmence · seemnce · semecne · semencce · semenec · semennce · semmence · semnece
  • sentence ← esntence · senetnce · senntence · sentecne · sentencce · sentenec · sentennce · sentnece

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "semence" and "sentence" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\sə.mɑ̃s\ versus \sɑ̃.tɑ̃s\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "semence" vs "sentence" - which ranks higher?
"sentence" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,407 in our French list, against #24,029 for "semence". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "semence" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sentence" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #283,837 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "semence" and "sentence" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "semée vs semence". 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 #283,837 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