signevssixteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“signe” and “sixte” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,097
“signe” frequency rank
#35,729
“sixte” frequency rank
36826
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature signe sixte
Definition Indice ou marque d’une chose. Intervalle de six notes consécutives, y compris les deux extrêmes.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set signe and sixte apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
signe
5 ch
sixte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. signe (\siɲ\) and sixte (\sikst\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36826, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

signe is recorded at frequency rank #1,097, classified as anoun, pronounced \siɲ\. sixte is at rank #35,729, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sikst\.

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 36826, this pair ranks #266,877 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of signe vs sixte

Shared letters: eis. Private to "signe": gn. Private to "sixte": tx.

"signe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "sixte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • signeisgne · sgine · sigen · siggne · signne · ssigne
  • sixteisxte · sitxe · sixet · sixtte · sixxte · ssixte · sxite

Frequency comparison

signe#1,097
sixte#35,729

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "signe" and "sixte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\siɲ\ versus \sikst\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "signe" or "sixte"?
"signe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,097 in our French list, against #35,729 for "sixte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering signe vs sixte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “signe” 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