confèrevsconfieWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,938
“confère” frequency rank
#6,066
“confie” frequency rank
18004
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature confère confie
Definition Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de conférer. Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de confier.

Where the eye mixes confère and confie

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
confère
6 ch
confie

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. confère (\kɔ̃.fɛʁ\) and confie (\kɔ̃.fi\) 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 18004, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

confère is recorded at frequency rank #11,938, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.fɛʁ\. confie is at rank #6,066, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.fi\.

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 18004, this pair ranks #380,446 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of confère vs confie

Shared letters: cefno. Private to "confère": . Private to "confie": i.

"confère" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "confie" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • confiecconfie · cnofie · cofnie · confei · conffie · conife · connfie · ocnfie

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "confère" and "confie" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɔ̃.fɛʁ\ versus \kɔ̃.fi\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "confère" or "confie"?
"confie" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,066 in our French list, against #11,938 for "confère". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list