Which to use
“flat” is an adjective and “fle” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,369
- “flat” frequency rank
- #39,300
- “fle” frequency rank
- 65669
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | flat | fle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Se dit du ver à soie atteint de flacherie. | Dormir. |
Where the eye mixes flat and fle
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses flat with fle
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: flat is \fla\ while fle is \ˈfle\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65669, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
flat is recorded at frequency rank #26,369, classified as anadj, pronounced \fla\. fle is at rank #39,300, tagged as averb, pronounced \ˈfle\.
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 65669, this pair ranks #71,275 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of flat vs fle
Shared letters: fl. Private to "flat": at. Private to "fle": e.
"flat" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "fle" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- flat ← falt · fflat · flatt · fllat · flta · lfat
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "flat" and "fle" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "flat" or "fle"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "flat" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #71,275 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "flat" and "fle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filez vs fle". 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 #71,275 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.