fle vs frêle, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“fle” is a verb and “frêle” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#39,300
“fle” frequency rank: #31,505
“frêle” frequency rank: 70805
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	fle	frêle
Definition	Dormir.	Qui a peu de solidité, de résistance.

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch

fle

5 ch

frêle

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fle is \ˈfle\ while frêle is \fʁɛl\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70805, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fle is recorded at frequency rank #39,300, classified as averb, pronounced \ˈfle\. frêle is at rank #31,505, tagged as anadj, pronounced \fʁɛl\.

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 70805, this pair ranks #49,942 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fle vs frêle

Shared letters: efl. Private to "fle": -. Private to "frêle": rê.

"fle" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "frêle" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Frequency comparison

fle#39,300

frêle#31,505

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fle" and "frêle" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fle" is a verb and "frêle" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "fle" or "frêle"?

"frêle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,505 in our French list, against #39,300 for "fle". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fle vs frêle

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “fle”; for an adjective, it's “frêle”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fle” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable