fiezvsfigéeWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#37,333
“fiez” frequency rank
#27,810
“figée” frequency rank
65143
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
fiez
5 ch
figée

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fiez is \fje\ while figée is \fi.ʒe\. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65143, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fiez is recorded at frequency rank #37,333, classified as averb, pronounced \fje\. figée is at rank #27,810, tagged as anadj, pronounced \fi.ʒe\.

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 65143, this pair ranks #73,653 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fiez vs figée

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

"fiez" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "figée" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fiezfeiz · ffiez · fiezz · fize · ifez

Frequency comparison

fiez#37,333
figée#27,810

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fiez" and "figée" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fiez" is a verb and "figée" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fiez" or "figée"?
"figée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,810 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 fiez vs figée

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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