fabervsfablesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: faber is a adjective, fables is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#38,287
“faber” frequency rank
#21,620
“fables” frequency rank
59907
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature faber fables
Definition Bien fait, bien travaillé, ingénieux, habile. Pluriel de fable.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
faber
6 ch
fables

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: faber is anadjective and fablesanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59907, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

faber is recorded at frequency rank #38,287, classified as anadj. fables is at rank #21,620, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fabl\.

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 59907, this pair ranks #100,526 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of faber vs fables

Shared letters: abef. Private to "faber": r. Private to "fables": ls.

"faber" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "fables" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • faberafber · fabber · faberr · faebr · fbaer · ffaber
  • fablesafbles · fabbles · fabels · fabless · fablles · fablse · falbes · fbales

Frequency comparison

faber#38,287
fables#21,620

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "faber" and "fables" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "faber" is an adjective and "fables" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "faber" or "fables"?
"fables" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,620 in our French list, against #38,287 for "faber". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering faber vs fables

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “faber”; for a noun, it's “fables”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “faber” 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