Which to use
“fête” is a noun and “fêtera” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #943
- “fête” frequency rank
- #35,521
- “fêtera” frequency rank
- 36464
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fête | fêtera |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Jour consacré particulièrement à des actes de religion, cérémonies religieuses par lesquelles on célèbre ce jour. | Troisième personne du singulier du futur de fêter. |
Where the eye mixes fête and fêtera
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fête runs 4 letters (CVCV) against fêtera's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses fête with fêtera
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fête is \fɛt\ while fêtera is \fɛ.tə.ʁa\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “fête” sits inside “fêtera”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36464, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fête is recorded at frequency rank #943, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɛt\. fêtera is at rank #35,521, tagged as averb, pronounced \fɛ.tə.ʁa\.
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 36464, this pair ranks #269,411 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fête vs fêtera
Shared letters: eftê. Private to "fête": -. Private to "fêtera": ar.
"fête" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "fêtera" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fête" for "fêtera" ever safe?
Which is more common, "fête" or "fêtera"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fête" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fêtera" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #269,411 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fête" and "fêtera" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fêtera vs fever". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #269,411 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.