faisaitvsfixaitWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“faisait” and “fixait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#671
“faisait” frequency rank
#34,539
“fixait” frequency rank
35210
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature faisait fixait
Definition Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de faire. Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de fixer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set faisait and fixait apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
faisait
6 ch
fixait

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. faisait (\fə.zɛ\) and fixait (\fik.sɛ\) 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 35210, 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\. fixait is at rank #34,539, tagged as averb, pronounced \fik.sɛ\.

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 35210, this pair ranks #278,371 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of faisait vs fixait

Shared letters: afit. Private to "faisait": s. Private to "fixait": x.

"faisait" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC  ·  "fixait" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • faisaitafisait · faiasit · faisaitt · faisati · faisiat · faissait · fasiait · ffaisait
  • fixaitffixait · fiaxit · fixaitt · fixati · fixiat · fixxait · fxiait · ifxait

Frequency comparison

faisait#671
fixait#34,539

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "faisait" and "fixait" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\fə.zɛ\ versus \fik.sɛ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "faisait" or "fixait"?
"faisait" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #671 in our French list, against #34,539 for "fixait". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering faisait vs fixait

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “faisait” 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