Which to use
“fige” is a verb and “frise” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,806
- “fige” frequency rank
- #17,430
- “frise” frequency rank
- 56236
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fige | frise |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de figer. | Partie de l’entablement qui est entre l’architrave et la corniche. |
Where the eye mixes fige and frise
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. fige runs 4 letters (CVCV) against frise's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses fige with frise
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fige is \fiʒ\ while frise is \fʁiz\. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56236, 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\. frise is at rank #17,430, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fʁiz\.
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 56236, this pair ranks #122,365 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fige vs frise
Shared letters: efi. Private to "fige": g. Private to "frise": rs.
"fige" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "frise" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fige" for "frise" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "fige" or "frise" show up more?
After this comparison
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 "frise" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #122,365 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fige" and "frise" 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 #122,365 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.