Which to use
“serveur” is a noun and “servir” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,378
- “serveur” frequency rank
- #1,379
- “servir” frequency rank
- 5757
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | serveur | servir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Celui qui a pour activité professionnelle de servir à table ou au buffet. | S’acquitter de certains offices, de certaines obligations envers une personne ou une collectivité. |
Where the eye mixes serveur and servir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: serveur vs servir
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: serveur is \sɛʁ.vœʁ\ while servir is \sɛʁ.viʁ\. 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 5757, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
serveur is recorded at frequency rank #4,378, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɛʁ.vœʁ\. 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 5757, this pair ranks #428,152 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of serveur vs servir
Shared letters: ersv. Private to "serveur": u. Private to "servir": i.
"serveur" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "servir" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "serveur" for "servir" ever safe?
Which is more common, "serveur" or "servir"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "serveur" and "servir" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "serveur" 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 #428,152 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "serveur" and "servir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "senteur vs serveur". 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 #428,152 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.