Which to use
“servait” and “suivait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,038
- “servait” frequency rank
- #12,071
- “suivait” frequency rank
- 20109
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | servait | suivait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de servir. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait du verbe suivre. |
Where the eye mixes servait and suivait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. servait (CVCCVVC) and suivait (CVVCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: servait vs suivait
A purely visual mix-up. servait (\sɛʁ.vɛ\) and suivait (\sɥi.vɛ\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20109, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
servait is recorded at frequency rank #8,038, classified as averb, pronounced \sɛʁ.vɛ\. suivait is at rank #12,071, tagged as averb, pronounced \sɥi.vɛ\.
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 20109, this pair ranks #369,918 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of servait vs suivait
Shared letters: aistv. Private to "servait": er. Private to "suivait": u.
"servait" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "suivait" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "servait" and "suivait" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "servait" or "suivait"?
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 "servait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "suivait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #369,918 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "servait" and "suivait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "suivait vs surfait". 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 #369,918 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.