signevssoignéWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: signe is a noun, soigné is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“signe” is a noun and “soigné” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,097
“signe” frequency rank
#10,948
“soigné” frequency rank
12045
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature signe soigné
Definition Indice ou marque d’une chose. Qui est fait avec soin, où l’on voit du soin.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set signe and soigné apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
signe
6 ch
soigné

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: signe is anoun and soignéanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12045, 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\. soigné is at rank #10,948, tagged as anadj.

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 12045, this pair ranks #406,804 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of signe vs soigné

Shared letters: gins. Private to "signe": e. Private to "soigné": .

"signe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "soigné" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • signeisgne · sgine · sigen · siggne · signne · ssigne

Frequency comparison

signe#1,097
soigné#10,948

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "signe" and "soigné" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "signe" is a noun and "soigné" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "signe" or "soigné"?
"signe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,097 in our French list, against #10,948 for "soigné". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering signe vs soigné

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “signe”; for an adjective, it's “soigné”.
  • 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