fevsFeeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: fe is a verb, Fee is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fe” is a verb and “Fee” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,382
“fe” frequency rank
#49,653
“Fee” frequency rank
63035
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fe Fee
Definition Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de fare. Fée.

Where the spellings diverge

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

2 ch
fe
3 ch
Fee

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: fe and Fee carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ˈfe\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “fe” sits inside “Fee”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63035, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fe is recorded at frequency rank #13,382, classified as averb, pronounced \ˈfe\. Fee is at rank #49,653, tagged as anoun, pronounced \feː\.

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 63035, this pair ranks #84,009 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fe vs Fee

Shared letters: ef. Private to "fe": -. Private to "Fee": -.

"fe" · 2 letters · shape CV  ·  "Fee" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequency comparison

fe#13,382
Fee#49,653

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fe" and "Fee" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fe" is a verb and "Fee" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fe" or "Fee"?
"fe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,382 in our French list, against #49,653 for "Fee". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fe vs Fee

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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