ferrivsferriesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#32,818
“ferri” frequency rank
#31,491
“ferries” frequency rank
64309
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ferri ferries
Definition Pluriel de ferro. Pluriel de ferry.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ferri and ferries apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
ferri
7 ch
ferries

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ferri (\ˈfɛr.ri\) and ferries (\fɛ.ʁi\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “ferri” sits inside “ferries”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64309, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ferri is recorded at frequency rank #32,818, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈfɛr.ri\. ferries is at rank #31,491, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɛ.ʁi\.

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 64309, this pair ranks #77,683 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ferri vs ferries

Shared letters: efir. Private to "ferri": -. Private to "ferries": s.

"ferri" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "ferries" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ferriefrri · feri · ferir · fferri · freri
  • ferriesefrries · ferires · ferreis · ferriess · ferrise · fferries · freries

Frequency comparison

ferri#32,818
ferries#31,491

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ferri" and "ferries" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ˈfɛr.ri\ versus \fɛ.ʁi\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ferri" or "ferries"?
"ferries" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,491 in our French list, against #32,818 for "ferri". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ferri vs ferries

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 “ferri” 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