featvsfléauWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: feat is a adverb, fléau is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“feat” is an adverb and “fléau” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,969
“feat” frequency rank
#10,502
“fléau” frequency rank
22471
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature feat fléau
Definition Avec, avec la participation de. Instrument composé de deux bâtons attachés l’un à l’autre à leur bout par un lien flexible, et qui sert à battre le grain pour le séparer de la tige et de l'épi, à la manière d’un fouet rigide. L’un des deux bâtons est le manche de l’outil, l’autre en est la lame.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
feat
5 ch
fléau

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: feat is \fit\ while fléau is \fle.o\. 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 (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22471, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

feat is recorded at frequency rank #11,969, classified as anadv, pronounced \fit\. fléau is at rank #10,502, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fle.o\.

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 22471, this pair ranks #357,796 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of feat vs fléau

Shared letters: af. Private to "feat": et. Private to "fléau": lué.

"feat" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "fléau" · 5 letters · shape CCVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • featefat · faet · featt · feta · ffeat

Frequency comparison

feat#11,969
fléau#10,502

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "feat" and "fléau" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "feat" is an adverb and "fléau" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "feat" or "fléau"?
"fléau" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,502 in our French list, against #11,969 for "feat". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering feat vs fléau

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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