sickvsSionWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sick is a verb, Sion is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sick” is a verb and “Sion” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#45,317
“sick” frequency rank
#16,741
“Sion” frequency rank
62058
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sick Sion
Definition Deuxième personne du singulier de l’impératif présent de sicken. Colline de Jérusalem et montagne sacrée, considérée comme l'emplacement historique du palais du roi David et du temple de Salomon.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
sick
4 ch
Sion

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sick is \zɪk\ while Sion is \sjɔ̃\. 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 (verb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62058, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sick is recorded at frequency rank #45,317, classified as averb, pronounced \zɪk\. Sion is at rank #16,741, tagged as aname, pronounced \sjɔ̃\.

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 62058, this pair ranks #89,057 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sick vs Sion

Shared letters: is. Private to "sick": ck. Private to "Sion": no.

"sick" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Sion" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sickisck · scik · sicck · sickk · sikc · ssick
  • Sionison · ssion

Frequency comparison

sick#45,317
Sion#16,741

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sick" and "Sion" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sick" is a verb and "Sion" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sick" or "Sion"?
"Sion" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,741 in our French list, against #45,317 for "sick". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sick vs Sion

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list