comme il faut

\kɔ.m‿il.fo\

/\kɔ.m‿il.fo\/ adv

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“comme il faut” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - De la manière dont il convient que les choses soient faites, correctement, normalement, régulièrement, proprement, avec soin, en prenant garde.

Key facts for comme il faut
PropertyValue
Headwordcomme il faut
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\kɔ.m‿il.fo\
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “comme il faut” sits in French frequency

comme il faut falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

comme il faut is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed \kɔ.m‿il.fo\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

comme il faut doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is comme il faut, spelled C-O-M-M-E- -I-L- -F-A-U-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    De la manière dont il convient que les choses soient faites, correctement, normalement, régulièrement, proprement, avec soin, en prenant garde.
  2. 2
    Complètement, franchement, voire en excès.

Synonyms

comme du mondecomme il se doitcorrectementnormalement

This word in other languages

normally(English)correto(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "comme il faut"?
"comme il faut" is spelled C-O-M-M-E- -I-L- -F-A-U-T. The IPA pronunciation is \kɔ.m‿il.fo\.
What does "comme il faut" mean?
As an adverb, "comme il faut" means: De la manière dont il convient que les choses soient faites, correctement, normalement, régulièrement, proprement, avec soin, en prenant garde.
How do you pronounce "comme il faut"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "comme il faut" is \kɔ.m‿il.fo\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "comme il faut" come from?
"comme il faut" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “comme il faut”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is C-O-M-M-E- -I-L- -F-A-U-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \kɔ.m‿il.fo\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list