Which to use
“feed” is a verb and “féru” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,809
- “feed” frequency rank
- #40,777
- “féru” frequency rank
- 68586
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | feed | féru |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nourrir, alimenter. | Qui est blessé, frappé de quelque chose. |
Where the eye mixes feed and féru
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. feed (CVVC) and féru (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between feed and féru
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: feed is \fiːd\ while féru is \fe.ʁy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68586, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
feed is recorded at frequency rank #27,809, classified as averb, pronounced \fiːd\. féru is at rank #40,777, tagged as anadj, pronounced \fe.ʁy\.
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 68586, this pair ranks #58,559 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of feed vs féru
Shared letters: f. Private to "feed": de. Private to "féru": rué.
"feed" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "féru" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- feed ← efed · fede · feedd · ffeed
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "feed" and "féru" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "feed" vs "féru" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "feed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "féru" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #58,559 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "feed" and "féru" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fee vs féru". 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 #58,559 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.