Which to use
“fèves” and “fleuves” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,017
- “fèves” frequency rank
- #15,631
- “fleuves” frequency rank
- 41648
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fèves | fleuves |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de fève. | Pluriel de fleuve. |
Where the eye mixes fèves and fleuves
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fèves runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against fleuves's 7 (CCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses fèves with fleuves
A purely visual mix-up. fèves (\fɛv\) and fleuves (\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 41648, 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\. fleuves is at rank #15,631, 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 41648, this pair ranks #231,533 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fèves vs fleuves
Shared letters: efsv. Private to "fèves": è. Private to "fleuves": lu.
"fèves" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "fleuves" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- fleuves ← feluves · ffleuves · fleuevs · fleuvess · fleuvse · fleuvves · flevues · flleuves
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fèves" and "fleuves" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "fèves" vs "fleuves" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fèves" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fleuves" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #231,533 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fèves" and "fleuves" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fee vs fèves". 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 #231,533 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.