Which to use
“faisan” is a noun and “faisant” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,797
- “faisan” frequency rank
- #821
- “faisant” frequency rank
- 39618
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | faisan | faisant |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nom donné à cinq genres de gallinacés de la famille des phasianidés, englobant une vintaine d'espèces qui fréquentent différents habitats forestiers dans les vallées et les montagnes de toute l'Asie du Sud-Est, présentant un dimorphisme sexuel prononcé et où le mâle arbore souvent un plumage multicolore et richement orné. | Participe présent du verbe faire. |
Same sound, different letters: faisan vs faisant
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. faisan runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against faisant's 7 (CVVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - faisan / faisant
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: faisan and faisant carry the same recorded pronunciation, \fə.zɑ̃\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “faisan” sits inside “faisant”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39618, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
faisan is recorded at frequency rank #38,797, classified as anoun, pronounced \fə.zɑ̃\. faisant is at rank #821, tagged as averb, pronounced \fə.zɑ̃\.
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 39618, this pair ranks #246,640 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of faisan vs faisant
Shared letters: afins. Private to "faisan": -. Private to "faisant": t.
"faisan" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "faisant" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "faisan" and "faisant" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "faisan" or "faisant"?
After this comparison
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "faisan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "faisant" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #246,640 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "faisan" and "faisant" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "faisan vs faisans". 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 #246,640 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.