Which to use
“fêtent” and “foutent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,045
- “fêtent” frequency rank
- #9,839
- “foutent” frequency rank
- 40884
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fêtent | foutent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de fêter. | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de foutre. |
Where the eye mixes fêtent and foutent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fêtent runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against foutent's 7 (CVVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between fêtent and foutent
A purely visual mix-up. fêtent (\fɛt\) and foutent (\fut\) 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 40884, 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\. foutent is at rank #9,839, tagged as averb, pronounced \fut\.
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 40884, this pair ranks #237,188 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fêtent vs foutent
Shared letters: efnt. Private to "fêtent": ê. Private to "foutent": ou.
"fêtent" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "foutent" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- foutent ← ffoutent · fotuent · fouetnt · foutennt · foutentt · foutetn · foutnet · fouttent
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fêtent" and "foutent" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "fêtent" or "foutent" 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 "foutent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #237,188 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fêtent" and "foutent" 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 #237,188 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.