fièrevsfiezWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: fière is a adjective, fiez is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fière” is an adjective and “fiez” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,247
“fière” frequency rank
#37,333
“fiez” frequency rank
42580
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fière fiez
Definition Féminin singulier de fier. Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de fier.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
fière
4 ch
fiez

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fière is \fjɛʁ\ while fiez is \fje\. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42580, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fière is recorded at frequency rank #5,247, classified as anadj, pronounced \fjɛʁ\. fiez is at rank #37,333, tagged as averb, pronounced \fje\.

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 42580, this pair ranks #224,535 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fière vs fiez

Shared letters: efi. Private to "fière": . Private to "fiez": z.

"fière" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "fiez" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fiezfeiz · ffiez · fiezz · fize · ifez

Frequency comparison

fière#5,247
fiez#37,333

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fière" and "fiez" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fière" is an adjective and "fiez" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fière" or "fiez"?
"fière" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,247 in our French list, against #37,333 for "fiez". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fière vs fiez

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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