Which to use
“servais” and “servir” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,367
- “servais” frequency rank
- #1,379
- “servir” frequency rank
- 31746
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | servais | servir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’imparfait de servir. | S’acquitter de certains offices, de certaines obligations envers une personne ou une collectivité. |
Where the eye mixes servais and servir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between servais and servir
A purely visual mix-up. servais (\sɛʁ.vɛ\) and servir (\sɛʁ.viʁ\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31746, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
servais is recorded at frequency rank #30,367, classified as averb, pronounced \sɛʁ.vɛ\. servir is at rank #1,379, tagged as averb, pronounced \sɛʁ.viʁ\.
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 31746, this pair ranks #301,824 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of servais vs servir
Shared letters: eirsv. Private to "servais": a. Private to "servir": -.
"servais" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "servir" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "servais" and "servir" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "servais" or "servir"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "servais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "servir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #301,824 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "servais" and "servir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "servage vs servais". 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 #301,824 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.