fidèlevsfieldWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: fidèle is a adjective, field is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fidèle” is an adjective and “field” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,138
“fidèle” frequency rank
#17,136
“field” frequency rank
20274
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fidèle field
Definition Qui garde sa foi, à l’égard d’une personne ou d’une idée, qui est constant dans les affections, qui remplit ses devoirs, ses engagements. Champ (terre).

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
fidèle
5 ch
field

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fidèle is \fi.dɛl\ while field is \fiːld\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20274, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fidèle is recorded at frequency rank #3,138, classified as anadj, pronounced \fi.dɛl\. field is at rank #17,136, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fiːld\.

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 20274, this pair ranks #369,118 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fidèle vs field

Shared letters: defil. Private to "fidèle": è. Private to "field": -.

"fidèle" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "field" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fieldfeild · ffield · fiedl · fieldd · fielld · filed · ifeld

Frequency comparison

fidèle#3,138
field#17,136

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fidèle" and "field" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fidèle" is an adjective and "field" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fidèle" or "field"?
"fidèle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,138 in our French list, against #17,136 for "field". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fidèle vs field

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “fidèle”; for a noun, it's “field”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fidèle” 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