fièvresvsfrèresConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#37,336
“fièvres” frequency rank
#1,265
“frères” frequency rank
38601
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fièvres frères
Definition Pluriel de fièvre. Ensemble des personnes qui sont frères les uns des autres.

Where the eye mixes fièvres and frères

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fièvres runs 7 letters (CVVCCVC) against frères's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
fièvres
6 ch
frères

Visual trap between fièvres and frères

A purely visual mix-up. fièvres (\fjɛvʁ\) and frères (\fʁɛʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38601, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fièvres is recorded at frequency rank #37,336, classified as anoun, pronounced \fjɛvʁ\. frères is at rank #1,265, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fʁɛʁ\.

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 38601, this pair ranks #254,128 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fièvres vs frères

Shared letters: efrsè. Private to "fièvres": iv. Private to "frères": -.

"fièvres" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "frères" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fièvres" and "frères" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\fjɛvʁ\ versus \fʁɛʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "fièvres" vs "frères" - which ranks higher?
"frères" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,265 in our French list, against #37,336 for "fièvres". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fièvres" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "frères" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #254,128 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fièvres" and "frères" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fières vs fièvres". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #254,128 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