féru vs feux, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“féru” is an adjective and “feux” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#40,777
“féru” frequency rank: #3,756
“feux” frequency rank: 44533
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	féru	feux
Definition	Qui est blessé, frappé de quelque chose.	Feux tricolores.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set féru and feux apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

féru

4 ch

feux

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: féru is \fe.ʁy\ while feux is \fø\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44533, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

féru is recorded at frequency rank #40,777, classified as anadj, pronounced \fe.ʁy\. 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 44533, this pair ranks #209,776 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of féru vs feux

Shared letters: fu. Private to "féru": ré. Private to "feux": ex.

"féru" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "feux" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

feux ← efux · feuxx · fexu · ffeux · fuex

Frequency comparison

féru#40,777

feux#3,756

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "féru" and "feux" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "féru" is an adjective and "feux" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "féru" or "feux"?

"feux" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,756 in our French list, against #40,777 for "féru". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering féru vs feux

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “féru”; for a noun, it's “feux”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “féru” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable