flirtevsfriteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: flirte is a verb, frite is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“flirte” is a verb and “frite” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,611
“flirte” frequency rank
#23,558
“frite” frequency rank
54169
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature flirte frite
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de flirter. Pomme de terre coupée en bâtonnets et frite dans l’huile.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set flirte and frite apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
flirte
5 ch
frite

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: flirte is \flœʁt\ while frite is \fʁit\. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54169, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

flirte is recorded at frequency rank #30,611, classified as averb, pronounced \flœʁt\. frite is at rank #23,558, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fʁit\.

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 54169, this pair ranks #135,785 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of flirte vs frite

Shared letters: efirt. Private to "flirte": l. Private to "frite": -.

"flirte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "frite" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • flirtefflirte · fliret · flirrte · flirtte · fllirte · flrite · lfirte
  • friteffrite · firte · friet · fritte · frrite · frtie · rfite

Frequency comparison

flirte#30,611
frite#23,558

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "flirte" and "frite" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "flirte" is a verb and "frite" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "flirte" or "frite"?
"frite" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,558 in our French list, against #30,611 for "flirte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering flirte vs frite

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list