Which to use
“fermez” and “fumez” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,783
- “fermez” frequency rank
- #32,824
- “fumez” frequency rank
- 45607
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fermez | fumez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de fermer. | Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de fumer. |
Where the eye mixes fermez and fumez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fermez runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against fumez's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between fermez and fumez
A purely visual mix-up. fermez (\fɛʁ.me\) and fumez (\fy.me\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45607, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fermez is recorded at frequency rank #12,783, classified as averb, pronounced \fɛʁ.me\. fumez is at rank #32,824, tagged as averb, pronounced \fy.me\.
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 45607, this pair ranks #201,417 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fermez vs fumez
Shared letters: efmz. Private to "fermez": r. Private to "fumez": u.
"fermez" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "fumez" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fermez" and "fumez" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "fermez" vs "fumez" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "fermez" and "fumez" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fermez" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fumez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #201,417 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fermez" and "fumez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filez vs fumez". 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 #201,417 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.