Which to use
“fêtent” and “firent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,045
- “fêtent” frequency rank
- #10,326
- “firent” frequency rank
- 41371
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fêtent | firent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de fêter. | Troisième personne du pluriel du passé simple de faire. |
Where the eye mixes fêtent and firent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: fêtent vs firent
A purely visual mix-up. fêtent (\fɛt\) and firent (\fiʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41371, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fêtent is recorded at frequency rank #31,045, classified as averb, pronounced \fɛt\. firent is at rank #10,326, tagged as averb, pronounced \fiʁ\.
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 41371, this pair ranks #233,563 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fêtent vs firent
Shared letters: efnt. Private to "fêtent": ê. Private to "firent": ir.
"fêtent" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "firent" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- firent ← ffirent · fiernt · firennt · firentt · firetn · firnet · firrent · frient
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fêtent" and "firent" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "fêtent" or "firent" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fêtent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "firent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #233,563 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fêtent" and "firent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feet vs fêtent". 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 #233,563 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.