sivsSkiWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: si is a conjunction, Ski is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#46
“si” frequency rank
#3,038
“Ski” frequency rank
3084
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature si Ski
Definition 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. Ski.

Where the eye mixes si and Ski

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

2 ch
si
3 ch
Ski

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: si is \si\ while Ski is \ʃiː\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (conjunction vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3084, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

si is recorded at frequency rank #46, classified as aconj, pronounced \si\. Ski is at rank #3,038, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃiː\.

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 3084, this pair ranks #434,819 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of si vs Ski

Shared letters: is. Private to "si": -. Private to "Ski": k.

"si" · 2 letters · shape CV  ·  "Ski" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "si" and "Ski" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "si" is a conjunction and "Ski" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "si" or "Ski"?
"si" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #46 in our French list, against #3,038 for "Ski". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list