fèvesvsfoiesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“fèves” and “foies” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#26,017
“fèves” frequency rank
#47,901
“foies” frequency rank
73918
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fèves foies
Definition Pluriel de fève. Pluriel de foie.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fèves and foies apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
fèves
5 ch
foies

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. fèves (\fɛv\) and foies (\fwa\) 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 73918, 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\. foies is at rank #47,901, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fwa\.

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 73918, this pair ranks #38,875 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fèves vs foies

Shared letters: efs. Private to "fèves": . Private to "foies": io.

"fèves" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "foies" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • foiesffoies · fioes · foeis · foiess · foise · ofies

Frequency comparison

fèves#26,017
foies#47,901

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fèves" and "foies" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\fɛv\ versus \fwa\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fèves" or "foies"?
"fèves" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,017 in our French list, against #47,901 for "foies". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fèves vs foies

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fèves” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list