Which to use
“faces” and “files” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,157
- “faces” frequency rank
- #11,220
- “files” frequency rank
- 21377
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | faces | files |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de face. | Pluriel de file. |
Where the eye mixes faces and files
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between faces and files
A purely visual mix-up. faces (\fas\) and files (\fil\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21377, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
faces is recorded at frequency rank #10,157, classified as anoun, pronounced \fas\. files is at rank #11,220, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fil\.
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 21377, this pair ranks #363,479 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of faces vs files
Shared letters: efs. Private to "faces": ac. Private to "files": il.
"faces" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "files" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "faces" for "files" ever safe?
Which is more common, "faces" or "files"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "faces" and "files" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "faces" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "files" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #363,479 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "faces" and "files" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "files vs filez". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #363,479 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.