Which to use
“fèves” and “fièvres” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,017
- “fèves” frequency rank
- #37,336
- “fièvres” frequency rank
- 63353
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fèves | fièvres |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de fève. | Pluriel de fièvre. |
Where the eye mixes fèves and fièvres
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fèves runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against fièvres's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between fèves and fièvres
A purely visual mix-up. fèves (\fɛv\) and fièvres (\fjɛvʁ\) 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 63353, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fèves is recorded at frequency rank #26,017, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɛv\. fièvres is at rank #37,336, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fjɛvʁ\.
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 63353, this pair ranks #82,379 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fèves vs fièvres
Shared letters: efsvè. Private to "fèves": -. Private to "fièvres": ir.
"fèves" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "fièvres" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fèves" for "fièvres" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fèves" vs "fièvres" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "fèves" and "fièvres" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fèves" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fièvres" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #82,379 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fèves" and "fièvres" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fee vs fèves". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #82,379 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.