sensés vs sensu, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#31,255
“sensés” frequency rank: #33,464
“sensu” frequency rank: 64719
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	sensés	sensu
Definition	Masculin pluriel de sensé.	Sens.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch

sensés

5 ch

sensu

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sensés is \sɑ̃.se\ while sensu is \ˈsɛn.su\. 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 64719, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sensés is recorded at frequency rank #31,255, classified as anadj, pronounced \sɑ̃.se\. sensu is at rank #33,464, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈsɛn.su\.

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 64719, this pair ranks #75,676 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sensés vs sensu

Shared letters: ens. Private to "sensés": é. Private to "sensu": u.

"sensés" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "sensu" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

sensu ← esnsu · sennsu · senssu · senus · sesnu · snesu · ssensu

Frequency comparison

sensés#31,255

sensu#33,464

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sensés" and "sensu" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sensés" is an adjective and "sensu" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "sensés" or "sensu"?

"sensés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,255 in our French list, against #33,464 for "sensu". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sensés vs sensu

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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