Which to use
“sève” is a noun and “sévi” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,043
- “sève” frequency rank
- #42,643
- “sévi” frequency rank
- 65686
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sève | sévi |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Liquide nutritif formé des sucs que les racines puisent dans le sol et répandent dans toutes les parties d’un végétal. | Participe passé masculin singulier de sévir. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sève and sévi apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sève is \sɛv\ while sévi is \se.vi\. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65686, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sève is recorded at frequency rank #23,043, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɛv\. 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 65686, this pair ranks #71,200 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sève vs sévi
Shared letters: sv. Private to "sève": eè. Private to "sévi": ié.
"sève" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "sévi" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sève" and "sévi" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "sève" or "sévi"?
Remembering sève vs sévi
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “sève”; for a verb, it's “sévi”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sève” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable