Which to use
“semences” and “silences” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,362
- “semences” frequency rank
- #24,391
- “silences” frequency rank
- 38753
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | semences | silences |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de semence. | Pluriel de silence. |
Where the eye mixes semences and silences
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. semences and silences follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses semences with silences
A purely visual mix-up. semences (\sə.mɑ̃s\) and silences (\si.lɑ̃s\) 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 38753, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
semences is recorded at frequency rank #14,362, classified as anoun, pronounced \sə.mɑ̃s\. silences is at rank #24,391, tagged as anoun, pronounced \si.lɑ̃s\.
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 38753, this pair ranks #253,043 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of semences vs silences
Shared letters: cens. Private to "semences": m. Private to "silences": il.
"semences" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "silences" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "semences" and "silences" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "semences" or "silences" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "semences" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "silences" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #253,043 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "semences" and "silences" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "semences vs sentences". 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 #253,043 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.