Which to use
“sick” and “sit” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,317
- “sick” frequency rank
- #19,990
- “sit” frequency rank
- 65307
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sick | sit |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du singulier de l’impératif présent de sicken. | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de seoir. |
Where the eye mixes sick and sit
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: sick vs sit
A purely visual mix-up. sick (\zɪk\) and sit (\si\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65307, 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\. sit is at rank #19,990, tagged as averb, 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 65307, this pair ranks #72,948 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sick vs sit
Shared letters: is. Private to "sick": ck. Private to "sit": t.
"sick" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "sit" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- sick ← isck · scik · sicck · sickk · sikc · ssick
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sick" and "sit" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "sick" vs "sit" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "sick" and "sit" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sick" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #72,948 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sick" and "sit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sicav vs sick". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #72,948 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.