frèresvsfritesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: frères is a noun, frites is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“frères” is a noun and “frites” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,265
“frères” frequency rank
#7,697
“frites” frequency rank
8962
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature frères frites
Definition Ensemble des personnes qui sont frères les uns des autres. Féminin pluriel de frit.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
frères
6 ch
frites

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: frères is \fʁɛʁ\ while frites is \fʁit\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8962, 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\. frites is at rank #7,697, tagged as anadj, 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 8962, this pair ranks #418,262 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of frères vs frites

Shared letters: efrs. Private to "frères": è. Private to "frites": it.

"frères" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "frites" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fritesffrites · firtes · friets · fritess · fritse · frittes · frrites · frties

Frequency comparison

frères#1,265
frites#7,697

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "frères" and "frites" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "frères" is a noun and "frites" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "frères" or "frites"?
"frères" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,265 in our French list, against #7,697 for "frites". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering frères vs frites

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “frères”; for an adjective, it's “frites”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “frères” 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