sévi vs si, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“sévi” is a verb and “si” is a conjunction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,643
“sévi” frequency rank: #46
“si” frequency rank: 42689
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	sévi	si
Definition	Participe passé masculin singulier de sévir.	Dans le cas où, à condition que, supposé que. Note d’usage : Conjonction qui introduit une condition (suivie d’une conséquence) ou une supposition qui peut être supprimée en utilisant un conditionnel.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sévi and si apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

sévi

2 ch

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sévi is \se.vi\ while si is \si\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs conjunction), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42689, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sévi is recorded at frequency rank #42,643, classified as averb, pronounced \se.vi\. si is at rank #46, tagged as aconj, pronounced \si\.

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 42689, this pair ranks #223,682 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sévi vs si

Shared letters: is. Private to "sévi": vé. Private to "si": -.

"sévi" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "si" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequency comparison

sévi#42,643

si#46

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sévi" and "si" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sévi" is a verb and "si" a conjunction, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "sévi" or "si"?

"si" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #46 in our French list, against #42,643 for "sévi". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering sévi vs si

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “sévi”; for a conjunction, it's “si”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sévi” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable