senséevssenteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sensée is a adjective, sente is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sensée” is an adjective and “sente” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,769
“sensée” frequency rank
#13,474
“sente” frequency rank
35243
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sensée sente
Definition Féminin singulier de sensé. Petit sentier ou petite voie, souvent non goudronnée, et passant au travers des bois.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sensée and sente apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
sensée
5 ch
sente

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sensée is \sɑ̃.se\ while sente is \sɑ̃t\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35243, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sensée is recorded at frequency rank #21,769, classified as anadj, pronounced \sɑ̃.se\. sente is at rank #13,474, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɑ̃t\.

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 35243, this pair ranks #278,130 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sensée vs sente

Shared letters: ens. Private to "sensée": é. Private to "sente": t.

"sensée" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "sente" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • senteesnte · senet · sennte · sentte · setne · snete · ssente

Frequency comparison

sensée#21,769
sente#13,474

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sensée" and "sente" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sensée" is an adjective and "sente" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sensée" or "sente"?
"sente" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,474 in our French list, against #21,769 for "sensée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sensée vs sente

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “sensée”; for a noun, it's “sente”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sensée” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list