filentvsfilonsConfusable pair

Which to use

“filent” and “filons” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#31,030
“filent” frequency rank
#27,812
“filons” frequency rank
58842
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature filent filons
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de filer. Première personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent du verbe filer.

Where the eye mixes filent and filons

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. filent and filons follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
filent
6 ch
filons

Look-alike desk: filent vs filons

A purely visual mix-up. filent (\fil\) and filons (\fi.lɔ̃\) 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 58842, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

filent is recorded at frequency rank #31,030, classified as averb, pronounced \fil\. filons is at rank #27,812, tagged as averb, pronounced \fi.lɔ̃\.

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 58842, this pair ranks #106,570 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of filent vs filons

Shared letters: filn. Private to "filent": et. Private to "filons": os.

"filent" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "filons" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • filent ← ffilent · fielnt · filennt · filentt · filetn · fillent · filnet · flient
  • filons ← ffilons · fillons · filnos · filonns · filonss · filosn · fiolns · flions

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "filent" and "filons" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\fil\ versus \fi.lɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "filent" or "filons"?
"filons" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,812 in our French list, against #31,030 for "filent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "filent" and "filons" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "filent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "filons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #106,570 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "filent" and "filons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filent 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 #106,570 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list