servezvssèveWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: servez is a verb, sève is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“servez” is a verb and “sève” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,814
“servez” frequency rank
#23,043
“sève” frequency rank
40857
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature servez sève
Definition Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de servir. Liquide nutritif formé des sucs que les racines puisent dans le sol et répandent dans toutes les parties d’un végétal.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set servez and sève apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
servez
4 ch
sève

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: servez is \sɛʁ.ve\ while sève is \sɛv\. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40857, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

servez is recorded at frequency rank #17,814, classified as averb, pronounced \sɛʁ.ve\. sève is at rank #23,043, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɛv\.

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 40857, this pair ranks #237,387 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of servez vs sève

Shared letters: esv. Private to "servez": rz. Private to "sève": è.

"servez" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "sève" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • servezesrvez · serevz · serrvez · servezz · servvez · servze · sevrez · srevez

Frequency comparison

servez#17,814
sève#23,043

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "servez" and "sève" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "servez" is a verb and "sève" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "servez" or "sève"?
"servez" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,814 in our French list, against #23,043 for "sève". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering servez vs sève

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “servez”; for a noun, it's “sève”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “servez” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list