Which to use
“fermer” is a verb and “février” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,424
- “fermer” frequency rank
- #626
- “février” frequency rank
- 3050
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fermer | février |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Clore ce qui était ouvert, par une porte, un couvercle, une trappe, etc. | Deuxième mois du calendrier grégorien qui compte normalement vingt-huit jours, sauf dans les années bissextiles où il en compte vingt-neuf. |
Where the eye mixes fermer and février
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fermer runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against février's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses fermer with février
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fermer is \fɛʁ.me\ while février is \fe.vʁi.je\. 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 3050, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fermer is recorded at frequency rank #2,424, classified as averb, pronounced \fɛʁ.me\. février is at rank #626, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fe.vʁi.je\.
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 3050, this pair ranks #434,903 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fermer vs février
Shared letters: efr. Private to "fermer": m. Private to "février": ivé.
"fermer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "février" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- fermer ← efrmer · femrer · feremr · fermerr · fermmer · fermre · ferrmer · ffermer
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fermer" for "février" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "fermer" or "février" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fermer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "février" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #434,903 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fermer" and "février" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fermer vs fever". 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 #434,903 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.