Which to use
“file” and “fix” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,678
- “file” frequency rank
- #23,870
- “fix” frequency rank
- 27548
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | file | fix |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Suite ou rangée de choses ou de personnes disposées en long et l’une derrière l’autre. | Dose de drogue, généralement injectée par intraveineuse. |
Where the eye mixes file and fix
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between file and fix
A purely visual mix-up. file (\fil\) and fix (\fiks\) 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 27548, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
file is recorded at frequency rank #3,678, classified as anoun, pronounced \fil\. fix is at rank #23,870, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fiks\.
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 27548, this pair ranks #328,267 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of file vs fix
Shared letters: fi. Private to "file": el. Private to "fix": x.
"file" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "fix" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- file ← ffile · flie · ifle
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "file" and "fix" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "file" or "fix" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "file" and "fix" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "file" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fix" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #328,267 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "file" and "fix" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fee vs fix". 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 #328,267 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.