fâchevsfochWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#23,560
“fâche” frequency rank
#28,562
“foch” frequency rank
52122
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fâche foch
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de fâcher. Forme mutée de moch par lénition.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fâche and foch apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
fâche
4 ch
foch

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fâche is \fɑʃ\ while foch is \voːχ\. 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 52122, 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\. foch is at rank #28,562, tagged as anoun, pronounced \voːχ\.

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 52122, this pair ranks #150,009 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fâche vs foch

Shared letters: cfh. Private to "fâche": . Private to "foch": o.

"fâche" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "foch" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fochfcoh · ffoch · focch · fochh · fohc · ofch

Frequency comparison

fâche#23,560
foch#28,562

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fâche" and "foch" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fâche" is a verb and "foch" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fâche" or "foch"?
"fâche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,560 in our French list, against #28,562 for "foch". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fâche vs foch

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 “foch”.
  • 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