confèrevsconfierWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,938
“confère” frequency rank
#5,847
“confier” frequency rank
17785
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature confère confier
Definition Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de conférer. Commettre quelqu’un ou quelque chose à la probité, au soin, à l’habileté de quelqu’un.

Where the eye mixes confère and confier

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

7 ch
confère
7 ch
confier

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. confère (\kɔ̃.fɛʁ\) and confier (\kɔ̃.fje\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17785, 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\. confier is at rank #5,847, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.fje\.

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 17785, this pair ranks #381,504 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of confère vs confier

Shared letters: cefnor. Private to "confère": è. Private to "confier": i.

"confère" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "confier" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • confiercconfier · cnofier · cofnier · confeir · conffier · confierr · confire · conifer

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "confère" and "confier" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɔ̃.fɛʁ\ versus \kɔ̃.fje\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "confère" or "confier"?
"confier" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,847 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