figésvsfilezWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#42,338
“figés” frequency rank
#49,655
“filez” frequency rank
91993
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature figés filez
Definition Masculin pluriel de figé. Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de filer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set figés and filez apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
figés
5 ch
filez

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: figés is \fi.ʒe\ while filez is \fi.le\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 91993, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

figés is recorded at frequency rank #42,338, classified as anadj, pronounced \fi.ʒe\. filez is at rank #49,655, tagged as averb, pronounced \fi.le\.

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 91993, this pair ranks #3,361 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of figés vs filez

Shared letters: fi. Private to "figés": gsé. Private to "filez": elz.

"figés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "filez" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • filezffilez · fielz · filezz · fillez · filze · fliez · iflez

Frequency comparison

figés#42,338
filez#49,655

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "figés" and "filez" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "figés" is an adjective and "filez" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "figés" or "filez"?
"figés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #42,338 in our French list, against #49,655 for "filez". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering figés vs filez

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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