Which to use
“figue” and “firme” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,844
- “figue” frequency rank
- #8,244
- “firme” frequency rank
- 45088
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | figue | firme |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | Désignation légale d'une société, d'une entreprise, raison sociale, enseigne. |
Where the eye mixes figue and firme
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. figue (CVCVV) and firme (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: figue vs firme
A purely visual mix-up. figue (\fiɡ\) and firme (\fiʁm\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45088, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
figue is recorded at frequency rank #36,844, classified as anoun, pronounced \fiɡ\. firme is at rank #8,244, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fiʁm\.
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 45088, this pair ranks #205,495 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of figue vs firme
Shared letters: efi. Private to "figue": gu. Private to "firme": mr.
"figue" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "firme" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "figue" and "firme" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "figue" or "firme" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "figue" and "firme" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "figue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "firme" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #205,495 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "figue" and "firme" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "figées vs figue". 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 #205,495 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.