Which to use
“fila” and “filer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,763
- “fila” frequency rank
- #7,321
- “filer” frequency rank
- 54084
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fila | filer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de filer. | Tordre ensemble plusieurs brins de chanvre, de lin, de soie, de laine, etc., pour qu’ils forment un fil. |
Where the eye mixes fila and filer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. fila runs 4 letters (CVCV) against filer's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between fila and filer
A purely visual mix-up. fila (\fi.la\) and filer (\fi.le\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54084, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fila is recorded at frequency rank #46,763, classified as averb, pronounced \fi.la\. filer is at rank #7,321, 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 54084, this pair ranks #136,415 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fila vs filer
Shared letters: fil. Private to "fila": a. Private to "filer": er.
"fila" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "filer" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fila" and "filer" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "fila" vs "filer" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fila" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "filer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #136,415 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fila" and "filer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fila vs filez". 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 #136,415 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.