frèresvsfrisesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,265
“frères” frequency rank
#46,777
“frises” frequency rank
48042
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature frères frises
Definition Ensemble des personnes qui sont frères les uns des autres. Pluriel de frise.

Where the eye mixes frères and frises

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. frères and frises follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
frères
6 ch
frises

Look-alike desk: frères vs frises

A purely visual mix-up. frères (\fʁɛʁ\) and frises (\fʁiz\) 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 48042, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

frères is recorded at frequency rank #1,265, classified as anoun, pronounced \fʁɛʁ\. frises is at rank #46,777, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fʁiz\.

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 48042, this pair ranks #182,104 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of frères vs frises

Shared letters: efrs. Private to "frères": è. Private to "frises": i.

"frères" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "frises" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • frises ← ffrises · firses · frisess · frisses · frrises · frsies · rfises

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "frères" and "frises" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\fʁɛʁ\ versus \fʁiz\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "frères" vs "frises" - which ranks higher?
"frères" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,265 in our French list, against #46,777 for "frises". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "frères" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "frises" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #182,104 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "frères" and "frises" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "foies vs frises". 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 #182,104 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