feedvsfeuWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#27,809
“feed” frequency rank
#568
“feu” frequency rank
28377
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature feed feu
Definition Nourrir, alimenter. Phénomène calorifique et lumineux produit par la combustion d'une matière inflammable ; un des quatre éléments des Anciens.

Where the eye mixes feed and feu

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
feed
3 ch
feu

Look-alike desk: feed vs feu

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: feed is \fiːd\ while feu is \fø\. 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 28377, 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\. feu is at rank #568, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fø\.

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 28377, this pair ranks #323,223 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of feed vs feu

Shared letters: ef. Private to "feed": d. Private to "feu": u.

"feed" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "feu" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • feedefed · fede · feedd · ffeed

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "feed" and "feu" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "feed" is a verb and "feu" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "feed" vs "feu" - which ranks higher?
"feu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #568 in our French list, against #27,809 for "feed". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "feed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "feu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #323,223 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "feed" and "feu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fee vs feed". 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 #323,223 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