Which to use
“servir” and “sévi” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,379
- “servir” frequency rank
- #42,643
- “sévi” frequency rank
- 44022
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | servir | sévi |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | S’acquitter de certains offices, de certaines obligations envers une personne ou une collectivité. | Participe passé masculin singulier de sévir. |
Where the eye mixes servir and sévi
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. servir runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against sévi's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between servir and sévi
A purely visual mix-up. servir (\sɛʁ.viʁ\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44022, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
servir is recorded at frequency rank #1,379, classified as averb, pronounced \sɛʁ.viʁ\. 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 44022, this pair ranks #213,649 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of servir vs sévi
Shared letters: isv. Private to "servir": er. Private to "sévi": é.
"servir" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "sévi" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- servir ← esrvir · serivr · serrvir · servirr · servri · servvir · sevrir · srevir
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "servir" for "sévi" ever safe?
Frequency check: "servir" vs "sévi" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "servir" and "sévi" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "servir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sévi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #213,649 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "servir" and "sévi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sepp vs sévi". 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 #213,649 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.