Which to use
“fentes” and “fesses” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,261
- “fentes” frequency rank
- #4,489
- “fesses” frequency rank
- 37750
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fentes | fesses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de fente. | Pluriel de fesse. |
Where the eye mixes fentes and fesses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fentes and fesses follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: fentes vs fesses
A purely visual mix-up. fentes (\fɑ̃t\) and fesses (\fɛs\) 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 37750, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fentes is recorded at frequency rank #33,261, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɑ̃t\. fesses is at rank #4,489, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɛs\.
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 37750, this pair ranks #260,201 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fentes vs fesses
Shared letters: efs. Private to "fentes": nt. Private to "fesses": -.
"fentes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "fesses" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fentes" for "fesses" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fentes" vs "fesses" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fentes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fesses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #260,201 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fentes" and "fesses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fentes vs fontes". 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 #260,201 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.