fevsfogConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#13,382
“fe” frequency rank
#46,768
“fog” frequency rank
60150
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fe fog
Definition Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de fare. Brouillard, brume.

Where the eye mixes fe and fog

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

2 ch
fe
3 ch
fog

Why the eye confuses fe with fog

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fe is \ˈfe\ while fog is \fɔɡ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60150, 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\. fog is at rank #46,768, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɔɡ\.

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 60150, this pair ranks #99,190 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fe vs fog

Shared letters: f. Private to "fe": e. Private to "fog": go.

"fe" · 2 letters · shape CV  ·  "fog" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fe" and "fog" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fe" is a verb and "fog" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fe" or "fog"?
"fe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,382 in our French list, against #46,768 for "fog". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fog" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #99,190 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fe" and "fog" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fee vs fog". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #99,190 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list