servi vs sévi, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“servi” and “sévi” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,494
“servi” frequency rank: #42,643
“sévi” frequency rank: 45137
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	servi	sévi
Definition	Participe passé masculin singulier de servir.	Participe passé masculin singulier de sévir.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch

servi

4 ch

sévi

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. servi (\sɛʁ.vi\) and sévi (\se.vi\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45137, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

servi is recorded at frequency rank #2,494, classified as averb, pronounced \sɛʁ.vi\. sévi is at rank #42,643, tagged as averb, pronounced \se.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 45137, this pair ranks #205,102 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of servi vs sévi

Shared letters: isv. Private to "servi": er. Private to "sévi": é.

"servi" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "sévi" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

servi ← esrvi · seriv · serrvi · servvi · sevri · srevi · sservi

Frequency comparison

servi#2,494

sévi#42,643

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "servi" and "sévi" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (\sɛʁ.vi\ versus \se.vi\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "servi" or "sévi"?

"servi" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,494 in our French list, against #42,643 for "sévi". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering servi vs sévi

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “servi” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable