Which to use
“frais” and “frits” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #899
- “frais” frequency rank
- #37,821
- “frits” frequency rank
- 38720
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | frais | frits |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Indique un état de fraîcheur, de bonne conservation. | Masculin pluriel de frit. |
Where the eye mixes frais and frits
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. frais (CCVVC) and frits (CCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses frais with frits
A purely visual mix-up. frais (\fʁɛ\) and frits (\fʁi\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38720, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
frais is recorded at frequency rank #899, classified as anadj, pronounced \fʁɛ\. frits is at rank #37,821, tagged as anadj, pronounced \fʁi\.
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 38720, this pair ranks #253,300 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of frais vs frits
Shared letters: firs. Private to "frais": a. Private to "frits": t.
"frais" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "frits" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "frais" and "frits" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "frais" or "frits"?
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 "frais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "frits" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #253,300 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "frais" and "frits" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "foins vs frits". 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 #253,300 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.