fâchevsfateWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: fâche is a verb, fate is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#23,560
“fâche” frequency rank
#39,294
“fate” frequency rank
62854
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fâche fate
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de fâcher. Celle qui est contente d’elle-même et qui le laisse voir.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
fâche
4 ch
fate

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fâche is \fɑʃ\ while fate is \fat\. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62854, 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\. fate is at rank #39,294, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fat\.

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 62854, this pair ranks #84,924 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fâche vs fate

Shared letters: ef. Private to "fâche": châ. Private to "fate": at.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fateafte · fatte · ffate · ftae

Frequency comparison

fâche#23,560
fate#39,294

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fâche" and "fate" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fâche" is a verb and "fate" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fâche" or "fate"?
"fâche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,560 in our French list, against #39,294 for "fate". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fâche vs fate

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “fâche”; for a noun, it's “fate”.
  • 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