Feb vs fève, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“Feb” is a name and “fève” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,894
“Feb” frequency rank: #37,822
“fève” frequency rank: 85716
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Feb	fève
Definition	Février.	Nom vernaculaire de Vicia faba, plante herbacées annuelle de la famille des Fabacées (Fabaceae, au port érigé, pouvant atteindre 2 mètre de haut et que l’on cultive pour sa graine comestible.

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch

Feb

4 ch

fève

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Feb is \fɛb\ while fève is \fɛv\. 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 (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 85716, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Feb is recorded at frequency rank #47,894, classified as aname, pronounced \fɛb\. fève is at rank #37,822, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɛv\.

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 85716, this pair ranks #10,868 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Feb vs fève

Shared letters: ef. Private to "Feb": b. Private to "fève": vè.

"Feb" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "fève" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Frequency comparison

Feb#47,894

fève#37,822

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Feb" and "fève" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Feb" is a name and "fève" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "Feb" or "fève"?

"fève" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,822 in our French list, against #47,894 for "Feb". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Feb vs fève

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “Feb”; for a noun, it's “fève”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Feb” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable