Which to use
“filles” and “folies” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #723
- “filles” frequency rank
- #15,382
- “folies” frequency rank
- 16105
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | filles | folies |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de fille. | Pluriel de folie. |
Where the eye mixes filles and folies
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between filles and folies
A purely visual mix-up. filles (\fij\) and folies (\fɔ.li\) 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 16105, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
filles is recorded at frequency rank #723, classified as anoun, pronounced \fij\. folies is at rank #15,382, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɔ.li\.
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 16105, this pair ranks #389,368 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of filles vs folies
Shared letters: efils. Private to "filles": -. Private to "folies": o.
"filles" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "folies" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "filles" and "folies" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "filles" or "folies"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "filles" and "folies" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "filles" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "folies" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #389,368 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "filles" and "folies" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "foins vs folies". 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 #389,368 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.