fièvre vs fièvres, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#5,248
“fièvre” frequency rank: #37,336
“fièvres” frequency rank: 42584
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	fièvre	fièvres
Definition	État d'un animal (y compris un être humain) dont la température corporelle dépasse sa valeur normale.	Pluriel de fièvre.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fièvre and fièvres apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

fièvre

7 ch

fièvres

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. fièvre and fièvres are pronounced identically (\fjɛvʁ\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “fièvre” sits inside “fièvres”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42584, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fièvre is recorded at frequency rank #5,248, classified as anoun, pronounced \fjɛvʁ\. fièvres is at rank #37,336, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fjɛvʁ\.

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 42584, this pair ranks #224,501 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fièvre vs fièvres

Shared letters: efirvè. Private to "fièvre": -. Private to "fièvres": s.

"fièvre" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "fièvres" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Frequency comparison

fièvre#5,248

fièvres#37,336

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fièvre" and "fièvres" be used interchangeably?

No. They are pronounced the same (\fjɛvʁ\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.

Which is more common, "fièvre" or "fièvres"?

"fièvre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,248 in our French list, against #37,336 for "fièvres". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fièvre vs fièvres

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 “fièvre” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable