Which to use
“serve” is a noun and “servile” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,566
- “serve” frequency rank
- #44,186
- “servile” frequency rank
- 58752
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | serve | servile |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Femme attachée au domaine qu’elle cultive moyennant redevance au seigneur qui en est le propriétaire. | Qui appartient à l’état d’esclave, de domestique. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set serve and servile apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: serve is \sɛʁv\ while servile is \sɛʁ.vil\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58752, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
serve is recorded at frequency rank #14,566, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɛʁv\. servile is at rank #44,186, tagged as anadj, pronounced \sɛʁ.vil\.
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 58752, this pair ranks #107,125 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of serve vs servile
Shared letters: ersv. Private to "serve": -. Private to "servile": il.
"serve" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "servile" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "serve" and "servile" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "serve" or "servile"?
Remembering serve vs servile
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “serve”; for an adjective, it's “servile”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “serve” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable