figervsfigueWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#39,801
“figer” frequency rank
#36,844
“figue” frequency rank
76645
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature figer figue
Definition Congeler, coaguler, condenser par le froid, par le refroidissement. Il se dit surtout en parlant des huiles. Faux-fruit comestible du figuier, issu de l’inflorescence contenant des akènes qui sont les fruits proprement dits, contenus dans une pulpe molle et sucrée.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
figer
5 ch
figue

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: figer is \fi.ʒe\ while figue is \fiɡ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76645, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

figer is recorded at frequency rank #39,801, classified as averb, pronounced \fi.ʒe\. figue is at rank #36,844, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fiɡ\.

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 76645, this pair ranks #30,551 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of figer vs figue

Shared letters: efgi. Private to "figer": r. Private to "figue": u.

"figer" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "figue" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • figerffiger · fgier · fiegr · figerr · figger · figre · ifger
  • figueffigue · fgiue · figeu · figgue · fiuge · ifgue

Frequency comparison

figer#39,801
figue#36,844

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "figer" and "figue" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "figer" is a verb and "figue" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "figer" or "figue"?
"figue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,844 in our French list, against #39,801 for "figer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering figer vs figue

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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