Which to use
“fève” and “fey” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,822
- “fève” frequency rank
- #46,760
- “fey” frequency rank
- 84582
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fève | fey |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nom vernaculaire de Vicia faba, plante herbacées annuelle de la famille des Fabacées (Fabaceae, au port érigé, pouvant atteindre 2 mètre de haut et que l’on cultive pour sa graine comestible. | Cône. |
Where the eye mixes fève and fey
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. fève runs 4 letters (CVCV) against fey's 3 (CVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses fève with fey
A purely visual mix-up. fève (\fɛv\) and fey (\fɛj\) 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 84582, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fève is recorded at frequency rank #37,822, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɛv\. fey is at rank #46,760, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɛj\.
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 84582, this pair ranks #12,719 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fève vs fey
Shared letters: ef. Private to "fève": vè. Private to "fey": y.
"fève" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "fey" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fève" for "fey" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "fève" or "fey" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "fève" and "fey" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fève" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fey" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #12,719 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fève" and "fey" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fee vs fey". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #12,719 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.