Which to use
“sent” and “soient” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,575
- “sent” frequency rank
- #777
- “soient” frequency rank
- 2352
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sent | soient |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de sentir. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent du subjonctif de être. |
Where the eye mixes sent and soient
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: sent vs soient
A purely visual mix-up. sent (\sɑ̃\) and soient (\swa\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2352, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sent is recorded at frequency rank #1,575, classified as averb, pronounced \sɑ̃\. soient is at rank #777, tagged as averb, pronounced \swa\.
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 2352, this pair ranks #436,298 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sent vs soient
Shared letters: enst. Private to "sent": -. Private to "soient": io.
"sent" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "soient" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sent" for "soient" ever safe?
Which is more common, "sent" or "soient"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "soient" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #436,298 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sent" and "soient" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sent vs sucent". 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 #436,298 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.