Which to use
“fêtons” and “filons” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,356
- “fêtons” frequency rank
- #27,812
- “filons” frequency rank
- 70168
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fêtons | filons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de fêter. | Première personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent du verbe filer. |
Where the eye mixes fêtons and filons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fêtons and filons follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between fêtons and filons
A purely visual mix-up. fêtons (\fe.tɔ̃\) and filons (\fi.lɔ̃\) 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 70168, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fêtons is recorded at frequency rank #42,356, classified as averb, pronounced \fe.tɔ̃\. filons is at rank #27,812, tagged as averb, pronounced \fi.lɔ̃\.
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 70168, this pair ranks #52,370 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fêtons vs filons
Shared letters: fnos. Private to "fêtons": tê. Private to "filons": il.
"fêtons" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "filons" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- filons ← ffilons · fillons · filnos · filonns · filonss · filosn · fiolns · flions
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fêtons" for "filons" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "fêtons" or "filons" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fêtons" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "filons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #52,370 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fêtons" and "filons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fécond vs fêtons". 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 #52,370 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.