Which to use
“fine” is a noun and “fuse” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,919
- “fine” frequency rank
- #46,778
- “fuse” frequency rank
- 50697
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fine | fuse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Terme utilisé communément dans l’imprimerie et par les typographes pour désigner une espace insécable, mais d'une largeur fixe non justifiable (en cas de justification des lignes complètes de paragraphes entre les deux marges), et plus fine (entre un sixième et un quart de cadratin, selon les polices de caractères utilisées) que l’espace normale (un demi cadratin) séparant les mots ; la fine est utilisée soit en juxtaposition avec certains signes de ponctuation, soit aussi (dans les conventions typographiques françaises) comme séparateur de groupes de chiffres dans un nombre ou un numéro. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe fuser. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fine and fuse apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fine is \fin\ while fuse is \fyz\. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50697, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fine is recorded at frequency rank #3,919, classified as anoun, pronounced \fin\. fuse is at rank #46,778, tagged as averb, pronounced \fyz\.
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 50697, this pair ranks #160,646 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fine vs fuse
Shared letters: ef. Private to "fine": in. Private to "fuse": su.
"fine" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "fuse" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fine" and "fuse" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "fine" or "fuse"?
Remembering fine vs fuse
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “fine”; for a verb, it's “fuse”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fine” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable