Which to use
“fâchent” and “fichent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,284
- “fâchent” frequency rank
- #31,493
- “fichent” frequency rank
- 71777
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fâchent | fichent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de fâcher. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de ficher. |
Where the eye mixes fâchent and fichent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. fâchent and fichent follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses fâchent with fichent
A purely visual mix-up. fâchent (\fɑʃ\) and fichent (\fiʃ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - â in “fâchent” becomes i in “fichent”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71777, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fâchent is recorded at frequency rank #40,284, classified as averb, pronounced \fɑʃ\. fichent is at rank #31,493, tagged as averb, pronounced \fiʃ\.
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 71777, this pair ranks #46,327 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fâchent vs fichent
Shared letters: cefhnt. Private to "fâchent": â. Private to "fichent": i.
"fâchent" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "fichent" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- fichent ← fcihent · ffichent · ficchent · ficehnt · fichennt · fichentt · fichetn · fichhent
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fâchent" and "fichent" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "fâchent" or "fichent"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fâchent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fichent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #46,327 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fâchent" and "fichent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fichait vs fichent". 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 #46,327 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.