faitesvsfidesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: faites is a adjective, fides is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“faites” is an adjective and “fides” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#506
“faites” frequency rank
#38,296
“fides” frequency rank
38802
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature faites fides
Definition Féminin pluriel de fait. Foi, croyance, confiance, créance, crédit.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set faites and fides apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
faites
5 ch
fides

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: faites is anadjective and fidesanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38802, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

faites is recorded at frequency rank #506, classified as anadj, pronounced \fɛt\. fides is at rank #38,296, tagged as anoun.

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 38802, this pair ranks #252,695 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of faites vs fides

Shared letters: efis. Private to "faites": at. Private to "fides": d.

"faites" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "fides" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • faitesafites · faiets · faitess · faitse · faittes · faties · ffaites · fiates
  • fidesfdies · ffides · fiddes · fidess · fidse · fieds · ifdes

Frequency comparison

faites#506
fides#38,296

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "faites" and "fides" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "faites" is an adjective and "fides" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "faites" or "fides"?
"faites" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #506 in our French list, against #38,296 for "fides". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering faites vs fides

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “faites”; for a noun, it's “fides”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “faites” 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