servicevssévicesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#322
“service” frequency rank
#30,392
“sévices” frequency rank
30714
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature service sévices
Definition Action de servir une personne ou une collectivité. Mauvais traitements infligés par une personne ayant autorité à une personne placée sous son autorité, pouvant aller jusqu'aux coups.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set service and sévices apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
service
7 ch
sévices

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. service (\sɛʁ.vis\) and sévices (\se.vis\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 6 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30714, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

service is recorded at frequency rank #322, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɛʁ.vis\. sévices is at rank #30,392, tagged as anoun, pronounced \se.vis\.

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 30714, this pair ranks #308,426 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of service vs sévices

Shared letters: ceisv. Private to "service": r. Private to "sévices": é.

"service" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "sévices" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • serviceesrvice · serivce · serrvice · servcie · servicce · serviec · servvice · sevrice

Frequency comparison

service#322
sévices#30,392

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "service" and "sévices" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\sɛʁ.vis\ versus \se.vis\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "service" or "sévices"?
"service" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #322 in our French list, against #30,392 for "sévices". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering service vs sévices

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 “service” 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