fichaitvsfilmaitConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#49,085
“fichait” frequency rank
#46,171
“filmait” frequency rank
95256
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fichait filmait
Definition Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de ficher. Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de filmer.

Where the eye mixes fichait and filmait

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fichait and filmait follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
fichait
7 ch
filmait

Look-alike desk: fichait vs filmait

A purely visual mix-up. fichait (\fi.ʃɛ\) and filmait (\fil.mɛ\) 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 95256, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fichait is recorded at frequency rank #49,085, classified as averb, pronounced \fi.ʃɛ\. filmait is at rank #46,171, tagged as averb, pronounced \fil.mɛ\.

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 95256, this pair ranks #1,179 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fichait vs filmait

Shared letters: afit. Private to "fichait": ch. Private to "filmait": lm.

"fichait" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "filmait" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fichait ← fcihait · ffichait · ficahit · ficchait · fichaitt · fichati · fichhait · fichiat
  • filmait ← ffilmait · filamit · fillmait · filmaitt · filmati · filmiat · filmmait · fimlait

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fichait" and "filmait" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\fi.ʃɛ\ versus \fil.mɛ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "fichait" vs "filmait" - which ranks higher?
"filmait" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #46,171 in our French list, against #49,085 for "fichait". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "fichait" and "filmait" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fichait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "filmait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,179 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fichait" and "filmait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filmait vs filmant". 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 #1,179 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list