Which to use
“fève” and “fleuve” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,822
- “fève” frequency rank
- #3,679
- “fleuve” frequency rank
- 41501
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fève | fleuve |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Cours d’eau qui se jette généralement dans la mer ou dans l’océan à son embouchure. |
Where the eye mixes fève and fleuve
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between fève and fleuve
A purely visual mix-up. fève (\fɛv\) and fleuve (\flœv\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41501, 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\. fleuve is at rank #3,679, tagged as anoun, pronounced \flœv\.
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 41501, this pair ranks #232,626 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fève vs fleuve
Shared letters: efv. Private to "fève": è. Private to "fleuve": lu.
"fève" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "fleuve" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- fleuve ← feluve · ffleuve · fleuev · fleuvve · flevue · flleuve · flueve · lfeuve
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fève" for "fleuve" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "fève" or "fleuve" 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 "fève" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fleuve" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #232,626 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fève" and "fleuve" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fee vs fève". 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 #232,626 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.