Which to use
“fâcher” is a verb and “fichier” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,221
- “fâcher” frequency rank
- #5,660
- “fichier” frequency rank
- 28881
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fâcher | fichier |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mettre en colère, irriter. | Collection de fiches ayant trait à un même sujet. |
Where the eye mixes fâcher and fichier
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: fâcher vs fichier
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fâcher is \fɑ.ʃe\ while fichier is \fi.ʃje\. 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 28881, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fâcher is recorded at frequency rank #23,221, classified as averb, pronounced \fɑ.ʃe\. fichier is at rank #5,660, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fi.ʃje\.
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 28881, this pair ranks #320,067 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fâcher vs fichier
Shared letters: cefhr. Private to "fâcher": â. Private to "fichier": i.
"fâcher" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "fichier" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- fichier ← fcihier · ffichier · ficchier · ficheir · fichhier · fichierr · fichire · ficiher
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fâcher" and "fichier" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "fâcher" or "fichier" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fâcher" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fichier" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #320,067 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fâcher" and "fichier" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fâcher vs Fincher". 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 #320,067 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.