Which to use
“semer” and “sévir” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,864
- “semer” frequency rank
- #30,832
- “sévir” frequency rank
- 43696
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | semer | sévir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Répandre de la graine ou du grain sur une terre préparée, afin de les faire produire et multiplier. | Exercer la répression avec rigueur, contre les personnes, leurs actes. |
Where the eye mixes semer and sévir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. semer and sévir follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: semer vs sévir
A purely visual mix-up. semer (\sə.me\) and sévir (\se.viʁ\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43696, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
semer is recorded at frequency rank #12,864, classified as averb, pronounced \sə.me\. sévir is at rank #30,832, tagged as averb, pronounced \se.viʁ\.
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 43696, this pair ranks #216,137 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of semer vs sévir
Shared letters: rs. Private to "semer": em. Private to "sévir": ivé.
"semer" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "sévir" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- semer ← esmer · seemr · semerr · semmer · semre · smeer · ssemer
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "semer" and "sévir" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "semer" or "sévir"?
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 "semer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sévir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #216,137 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "semer" and "sévir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Selim vs sévir". 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 #216,137 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.