Which to use
“faisait” and “filait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #671
- “faisait” frequency rank
- #36,391
- “filait” frequency rank
- 37062
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | faisait | filait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de faire. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de filer. |
Where the eye mixes faisait and filait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. faisait runs 7 letters (CVVCVVC) against filait's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses faisait with filait
A purely visual mix-up. faisait (\fə.zɛ\) and filait (\fi.lɛ\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37062, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
faisait is recorded at frequency rank #671, classified as averb, pronounced \fə.zɛ\. filait is at rank #36,391, tagged as averb, pronounced \fi.lɛ\.
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 37062, this pair ranks #265,157 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of faisait vs filait
Shared letters: afit. Private to "faisait": s. Private to "filait": l.
"faisait" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC · "filait" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "faisait" for "filait" ever safe?
Which is more common, "faisait" or "filait"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "faisait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "filait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #265,157 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "faisait" and "filait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fichait vs filait". 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 #265,157 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.