filamentvsfixementWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: filament is a noun, fixement is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“filament” is a noun and “fixement” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#40,271
“filament” frequency rank
#43,440
“fixement” frequency rank
83711
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature filament fixement
Definition Petit fil, petit brin long et délié, semblable à celui qui se tire de l’écorce du chanvre ou du lin. D’une manière fixe.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set filament and fixement apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
filament
8 ch
fixement

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: filament is \fi.la.mɑ̃\ while fixement is \fik.sə.mɑ̃\. 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 (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83711, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

filament is recorded at frequency rank #40,271, classified as anoun, pronounced \fi.la.mɑ̃\. fixement is at rank #43,440, tagged as anadv, pronounced \fik.sə.mɑ̃\.

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 83711, this pair ranks #14,327 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of filament vs fixement

Shared letters: efimnt. Private to "filament": al. Private to "fixement": x.

"filament" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC  ·  "fixement" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • filamentffilament · fialment · filaemnt · filamennt · filamentt · filametn · filamment · filamnet
  • fixementffixement · fiexment · fixeemnt · fixemennt · fixementt · fixemetn · fixemment · fixemnet

Frequency comparison

filament#40,271
fixement#43,440

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "filament" and "fixement" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "filament" is a noun and "fixement" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "filament" or "fixement"?
"filament" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,271 in our French list, against #43,440 for "fixement". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering filament vs fixement

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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