filezvsfilouWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: filez is a verb, filou is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“filez” is a verb and “filou” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#49,655
“filez” frequency rank
#43,438
“filou” frequency rank
93093
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature filez filou
Definition Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de filer. (Louisiane) Voleur agissant par ruse, tricheur au jeu, personne qui abuse de la confiance.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set filez and filou apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
filez
5 ch
filou

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: filez is \fi.le\ while filou is \fi.lu\. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 93093, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

filez is recorded at frequency rank #49,655, classified as averb, pronounced \fi.le\. filou is at rank #43,438, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fi.lu\.

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 93093, this pair ranks #2,525 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of filez vs filou

Shared letters: fil. Private to "filez": ez. Private to "filou": ou.

"filez" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "filou" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • filezffilez · fielz · filezz · fillez · filze · fliez · iflez
  • filouffilou · fillou · filuo · fliou · iflou

Frequency comparison

filez#49,655
filou#43,438

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "filez" and "filou" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "filez" is a verb and "filou" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "filez" or "filou"?
"filou" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #43,438 in our French list, against #49,655 for "filez". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering filez vs filou

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “filez”; for a noun, it's “filou”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “filez” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list