fâche vs fâchent, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#23,560
“fâche” frequency rank: #40,284
“fâchent” frequency rank: 63844
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	fâche	fâchent
Definition	Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de fâcher.	Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de fâcher.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fâche and fâchent apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

fâche

7 ch

fâchent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. fâche and fâchent are pronounced identically (\fɑʃ\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “fâche” sits inside “fâchent”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63844, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fâche is recorded at frequency rank #23,560, classified as averb, pronounced \fɑʃ\. fâchent is at rank #40,284, tagged as averb, pronounced \fɑʃ\.

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 63844, this pair ranks #79,940 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fâche vs fâchent

Shared letters: cefhâ. Private to "fâche": -. Private to "fâchent": nt.

"fâche" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "fâchent" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Frequency comparison

fâche#23,560

fâchent#40,284

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fâche" and "fâchent" be used interchangeably?

No. They are pronounced the same (\fɑʃ\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.

Which is more common, "fâche" or "fâchent"?

"fâche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,560 in our French list, against #40,284 for "fâchent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fâche vs fâchent

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fâche” entry
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