figéesvsfigerWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: figées is a adjective, figer is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#48,530
“figées” frequency rank
#39,801
“figer” frequency rank
88331
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature figées figer
Definition Féminin pluriel de figé. Congeler, coaguler, condenser par le froid, par le refroidissement. Il se dit surtout en parlant des huiles.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set figées and figer apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
figées
5 ch
figer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: figées and figer carry the same recorded pronunciation, \fi.ʒe\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88331, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

figées is recorded at frequency rank #48,530, classified as anadj, pronounced \fi.ʒe\. figer is at rank #39,801, tagged as averb, 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 88331, this pair ranks #7,139 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of figées vs figer

Shared letters: efgi. Private to "figées": . Private to "figer": r.

"figées" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "figer" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • figerffiger · fgier · fiegr · figerr · figger · figre · ifger

Frequency comparison

figées#48,530
figer#39,801

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "figées" and "figer" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "figées" is an adjective and "figer" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "figées" or "figer"?
"figer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,801 in our French list, against #48,530 for "figées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering figées vs figer

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “figées”; for a verb, it's “figer”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “figées” 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