fâchevsfadeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: fâche is a verb, fade is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fâche” is a verb and “fade” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,560
“fâche” frequency rank
#18,200
“fade” frequency rank
41760
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fâche fade
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de fâcher. Qui est sans saveur ou de peu de goût.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fâche and fade apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
fâche
4 ch
fade

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fâche is \fɑʃ\ while fade is \fad\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41760, 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\. fade is at rank #18,200, tagged as anadj, pronounced \fad\.

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 41760, this pair ranks #230,692 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fâche vs fade

Shared letters: ef. Private to "fâche": châ. Private to "fade": ad.

"fâche" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "fade" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fadeafde · fadde · faed · fdae · ffade

Frequency comparison

fâche#23,560
fade#18,200

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fâche" and "fade" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fâche" is a verb and "fade" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fâche" or "fade"?
"fade" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,200 in our French list, against #23,560 for "fâche". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fâche vs fade

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “fâche”; for an adjective, it's “fade”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fâche” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list