Which to use
“fe” and “fuse” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,382
- “fe” frequency rank
- #46,778
- “fuse” frequency rank
- 60160
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fe | fuse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de fare. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe fuser. |
Where the eye mixes fe and fuse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between fe and fuse
A purely visual mix-up. fe (\ˈfe\) and fuse (\fyz\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60160, 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\. fuse is at rank #46,778, tagged as averb, pronounced \fyz\.
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 60160, this pair ranks #99,136 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fe vs fuse
Shared letters: ef. Private to "fe": -. Private to "fuse": su.
"fe" · 2 letters · shape CV · "fuse" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- fuse ← ffuse · fsue · fues · fusse · ufse
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fe" for "fuse" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fe" vs "fuse" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "fe" and "fuse" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fuse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #99,136 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fe" and "fuse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fee vs fuse". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #99,136 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.