Which to use
“sente” is a noun and “sont” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,474
- “sente” frequency rank
- #47
- “sont” frequency rank
- 13521
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sente | sont |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Petit sentier ou petite voie, souvent non goudronnée, et passant au travers des bois. | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de être. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sente and sont apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
sente and sont form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13521, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sente is recorded at frequency rank #13,474, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɑ̃t\. sont is at rank #47, tagged as averb, pronounced \sɔ̃\.
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 13521, this pair ranks #400,683 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sente" and "sont" be used interchangeably?
Remembering sente vs sont
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “sente”; for a verb, it's “sont”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sente” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable