Which to use
“sers” and “sévi” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,390
- “sers” frequency rank
- #42,643
- “sévi” frequency rank
- 52033
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sers | sévi |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de servir. | Participe passé masculin singulier de sévir. |
Where the eye mixes sers and sévi
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sers with sévi
A purely visual mix-up. sers (\sɛʁ\) and sévi (\se.vi\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52033, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sers is recorded at frequency rank #9,390, classified as averb, pronounced \sɛʁ\. sévi is at rank #42,643, tagged as averb, pronounced \se.vi\.
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 52033, this pair ranks #150,665 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sers vs sévi
Shared letters: s. Private to "sers": er. Private to "sévi": ivé.
"sers" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "sévi" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- sers ← esrs · serrs · serss · sesr · sres · ssers
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sers" and "sévi" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "sers" or "sévi"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sers" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sévi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #150,665 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sers" and "sévi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sepp vs sévi". 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 #150,665 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.