sesvsstWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ses is a determiner, st is a symbol, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ses” is a determiner and “st” is a symbol - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#67
“ses” frequency rank
#1,190
“st” frequency rank
1257
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ses st
Definition Pluriel des déterminants possessifs son et sa. Qui sont à lui ou à elle. Note d’usage : Un seul possesseur et plusieurs objets. Symbole de la stère.

Letter map: ses vs st

Shared letters muted; letters that set ses and st apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
ses
2 ch
st

Role in the sentence - ses and st

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ses is adeterminer and stasymbol. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1257, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ses is recorded at frequency rank #67, classified as adet, pronounced \se\. st is at rank #1,190, tagged as asymbol.

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 1257, this pair ranks #438,344 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ses vs st

Shared letters: s. Private to "ses": e. Private to "st": t.

"ses" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "st" · 2 letters · shape CC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ses" and "st" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ses" is a determiner and "st" a symbol, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "ses" vs "st" - which ranks higher?
"ses" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #67 in our French list, against #1,190 for "st". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pair "ses" vs "st" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ses" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "st" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #438,344 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ses" and "st" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "st vs suu". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #438,344 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list