fauchervsficherWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#28,949
“faucher” frequency rank
#34,538
“ficher” frequency rank
63487
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature faucher ficher
Definition Couper à la faux ou à la machine. Faire entrer par la pointe.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
faucher
6 ch
ficher

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. faucher (\fo.ʃe\) and ficher (\fi.ʃe\) 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 63487, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

faucher is recorded at frequency rank #28,949, classified as averb, pronounced \fo.ʃe\. ficher is at rank #34,538, tagged as averb, pronounced \fi.ʃe\.

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 63487, this pair ranks #81,711 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of faucher vs ficher

Shared letters: cefhr. Private to "faucher": au. Private to "ficher": i.

"faucher" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "ficher" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • faucherafucher · facuher · fauccher · faucehr · faucherr · fauchher · fauchre · fauhcer
  • ficherfciher · fficher · ficcher · ficehr · ficherr · fichher · fichre · fihcer

Frequency comparison

faucher#28,949
ficher#34,538

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "faucher" and "ficher" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\fo.ʃe\ versus \fi.ʃe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "faucher" or "ficher"?
"faucher" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,949 in our French list, against #34,538 for "ficher". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering faucher vs ficher

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 “faucher” 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