semervsskierWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#12,864
“semer” frequency rank
#27,232
“skier” frequency rank
40096
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature semer skier
Definition Répandre de la graine ou du grain sur une terre préparée, afin de les faire produire et multiplier. Se déplacer sur la neige en utilisant des skis.

Where the eye mixes semer and skier

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
semer
5 ch
skier

Why the eye confuses semer with skier

A purely visual mix-up. semer (\sə.me\) and skier (\skje\) 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 40096, 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\. skier is at rank #27,232, tagged as averb, pronounced \skje\.

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 40096, this pair ranks #243,071 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of semer vs skier

Shared letters: ers. Private to "semer": m. Private to "skier": ik.

"semer" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "skier" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • semeresmer · seemr · semerr · semmer · semre · smeer · ssemer
  • skierksier · siker · skeir · skierr · skire · skkier · sskier

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "semer" and "skier" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\sə.me\ versus \skje\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "semer" vs "skier" - which ranks higher?
"semer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,864 in our French list, against #27,232 for "skier". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "semer" and "skier" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "semer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "skier" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #243,071 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "semer" and "skier" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "skier vs soler". 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 #243,071 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