Which to use
“fige” and “frire” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,806
- “fige” frequency rank
- #35,956
- “frire” frequency rank
- 74762
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fige | frire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de figer. | Faire cuire dans une poêle avec du beurre, du saindoux ou de l’huile. |
Where the eye mixes fige and frire
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. fige runs 4 letters (CVCV) against frire's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between fige and frire
A purely visual mix-up. fige (\fiʒ\) and frire (\fʁiʁ\) 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 74762, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fige is recorded at frequency rank #38,806, classified as averb, pronounced \fiʒ\. frire is at rank #35,956, tagged as averb, pronounced \fʁiʁ\.
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 74762, this pair ranks #36,099 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fige vs frire
Shared letters: efi. Private to "fige": g. Private to "frire": r.
"fige" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "frire" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fige" and "frire" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "fige" vs "frire" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fige" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "frire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #36,099 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fige" and "frire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fige vs Finger". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #36,099 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.