feelsvsfêtesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“feels” and “fêtes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#46,755
“feels” frequency rank
#2,929
“fêtes” frequency rank
49684
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature feels fêtes
Definition Sentiments. Pluriel de fête.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set feels and fêtes apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
feels
5 ch
fêtes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. feels (\fiːlz\) and fêtes (\fɛt\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49684, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

feels is recorded at frequency rank #46,755, classified as anoun, pronounced \fiːlz\. fêtes is at rank #2,929, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɛt\.

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 49684, this pair ranks #168,671 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of feels vs fêtes

Shared letters: efs. Private to "feels": l. Private to "fêtes": .

"feels" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "fêtes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • feelsefels · feells · feelss · feesl · feles · fels · ffeels

Frequency comparison

feels#46,755
fêtes#2,929

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "feels" and "fêtes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\fiːlz\ versus \fɛt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "feels" or "fêtes"?
"fêtes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,929 in our French list, against #46,755 for "feels". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering feels vs fêtes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “feels” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list