Which to use
“serval” is a noun and “servi” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,535
- “serval” frequency rank
- #2,494
- “servi” frequency rank
- 44029
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | serval | servi |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Espèce de félin africain sauvage de taille moyenne, à longues pattes. | Participe passé masculin singulier de servir. |
Where the eye mixes serval and servi
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: serval vs servi
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: serval is \sɛʁ.val\ while servi is \sɛʁ.vi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44029, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
serval is recorded at frequency rank #41,535, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɛʁ.val\. servi is at rank #2,494, tagged as averb, pronounced \sɛʁ.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 44029, this pair ranks #213,586 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of serval vs servi
Shared letters: ersv. Private to "serval": al. Private to "servi": i.
"serval" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "servi" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "serval" for "servi" ever safe?
Frequency check: "serval" vs "servi" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "serval" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "servi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #213,586 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "serval" and "servi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "serval vs sexual". 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 #213,586 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.