fléchivsfléchirWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“fléchi” and “fléchir” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#47,345
“fléchi” frequency rank
#38,812
“fléchir” frequency rank
86157
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fléchi fléchir
Definition Participe passé masculin singulier du verbe fléchir. Faire ployer, courber.

Where the eye mixes fléchi and fléchir

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. fléchi runs 6 letters (CCVCCV) against fléchir's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
fléchi
7 ch
fléchir

Visual trap between fléchi and fléchir

A purely visual mix-up. fléchi (\fle.ʃi\) and fléchir (\fle.ʃiʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “fléchi” sits inside “fléchir”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 86157, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fléchi is recorded at frequency rank #47,345, classified as averb, pronounced \fle.ʃi\. fléchir is at rank #38,812, tagged as averb, pronounced \fle.ʃiʁ\.

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 86157, this pair ranks #10,152 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fléchi vs fléchir

Shared letters: cfhilé. Private to "fléchi": -. Private to "fléchir": r.

"fléchi" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "fléchir" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fléchi" for "fléchir" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\fle.ʃi\ versus \fle.ʃiʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "fléchi" vs "fléchir" - which ranks higher?
"fléchir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,812 in our French list, against #47,345 for "fléchi". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fléchi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fléchir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #10,152 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fléchi" and "fléchir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fléchi vs fleuri". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #10,152 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list