Which to use
“ses” is a determiner and “spi” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #67
- “ses” frequency rank
- #49,369
- “spi” frequency rank
- 49436
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ses | spi |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel des déterminants possessifs son et sa. Qui sont à lui ou à elle. Note d’usage : Un seul possesseur et plusieurs objets. | Spirituel (au sens religieux). |
Where the eye mixes ses and spi
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between ses and spi
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ses is \se\ while spi is \spi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (determiner vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49436, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ses is recorded at frequency rank #67, classified as adet, pronounced \se\. spi is at rank #49,369, tagged as anadj, pronounced \spi\.
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 49436, this pair ranks #170,694 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ses vs spi
Shared letters: s. Private to "ses": e. Private to "spi": ip.
"ses" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "spi" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ses" and "spi" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "ses" or "spi" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "ses" and "spi" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ses" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #170,694 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ses" and "spi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "spi vs suu". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #170,694 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.