feedvsfeuxWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#27,809
“feed” frequency rank
#3,756
“feux” frequency rank
31565
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature feed feux
Definition Nourrir, alimenter. Feux tricolores.

Where the eye mixes feed and feux

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

4 ch
feed
4 ch
feux

Visual trap between feed and feux

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: feed is \fiːd\ while feux is \fø\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31565, 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\. feux is at rank #3,756, 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 31565, this pair ranks #302,995 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of feed vs feux

Shared letters: ef. Private to "feed": d. Private to "feux": ux.

"feed" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "feux" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • feedefed · fede · feedd · ffeed
  • feuxefux · feuxx · fexu · ffeux · fuex

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "feed" for "feux" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "feed" is a verb and "feux" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "feed" or "feux" show up more?
"feux" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,756 in our French list, against #27,809 for "feed". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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 "feux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #302,995 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "feed" and "feux" 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 #302,995 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