Which to use
“figée” is an adjective and “fine” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,810
- “figée” frequency rank
- #3,919
- “fine” frequency rank
- 31729
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | figée | fine |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de figé. | Terme utilisé communément dans l’imprimerie et par les typographes pour désigner une espace insécable, mais d'une largeur fixe non justifiable (en cas de justification des lignes complètes de paragraphes entre les deux marges), et plus fine (entre un sixième et un quart de cadratin, selon les polices de caractères utilisées) que l’espace normale (un demi cadratin) séparant les mots ; la fine est utilisée soit en juxtaposition avec certains signes de ponctuation, soit aussi (dans les conventions typographiques françaises) comme séparateur de groupes de chiffres dans un nombre ou un numéro. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set figée and fine apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: figée is \fi.ʒe\ while fine is \fin\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31729, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
figée is recorded at frequency rank #27,810, classified as anadj, pronounced \fi.ʒe\. fine is at rank #3,919, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fin\.
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 31729, this pair ranks #301,918 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of figée vs fine
Shared letters: efi. Private to "figée": gé. Private to "fine": n.
"figée" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "fine" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- fine ← ffine · fien · finne · fnie · ifne
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "figée" and "fine" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "figée" or "fine"?
Remembering figée vs fine
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “figée”; for a noun, it's “fine”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “figée” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable