fengvsfeuxWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#23,868
“feng” frequency rank
#3,756
“feux” frequency rank
27624
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature feng feux
Definition Nom de la lettre ʩ utilisée dans les extensions de l’alphabet phonétique international pour représenter une consonne vélo-pharyngeale fricative. Feux tricolores.

Where the eye mixes feng and feux

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. feng (CVCC) and feux (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
feng
4 ch
feux

Why the eye confuses feng with feux

A purely visual mix-up. feng (\fɛŋ\) and feux (\fø\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27624, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

feng is recorded at frequency rank #23,868, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɛŋ\. 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 27624, this pair ranks #327,856 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of feng vs feux

Shared letters: ef. Private to "feng": gn. Private to "feux": ux.

"feng" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "feux" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • feng ← efng · fegn · fengg · fenng · ffeng · fneg
  • feux ← efux · feuxx · fexu · ffeux · fuex

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "feng" and "feux" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\fɛŋ\ versus \fø\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "feng" or "feux"?
"feux" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,756 in our French list, against #23,868 for "feng". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "feng" and "feux" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "feng" 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 #327,856 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "feng" and "feux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fee vs feng". 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 #327,856 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