farevsfèveWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#45,039
“fare” frequency rank
#37,822
“fève” frequency rank
82861
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fare fève
Definition Pêche solennelle que les pêcheurs faisaient pour leur fête, vers le mois de mai, et qui fut interdite en 1670, parce qu’elle dépeuplait les rivières. Nom vernaculaire de Vicia faba, plante herbacées annuelle de la famille des Fabacées (Fabaceae, au port érigé, pouvant atteindre 2 mètre de haut et que l’on cultive pour sa graine comestible.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fare and fève apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
fare
4 ch
fève

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. fare (\faʁ\) and fève (\fɛv\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82861, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fare is recorded at frequency rank #45,039, classified as anoun, pronounced \faʁ\. fève is at rank #37,822, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɛv\.

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 82861, this pair ranks #15,866 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fare vs fève

Shared letters: ef. Private to "fare": ar. Private to "fève": .

"fare" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "fève" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fareafre · farre · ffare · frae

Frequency comparison

fare#45,039
fève#37,822

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fare" and "fève" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\faʁ\ versus \fɛv\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fare" or "fève"?
"fève" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,822 in our French list, against #45,039 for "fare". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fare vs fève

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 “fare” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list