fritevsfritsWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#23,558
“frite” frequency rank
#37,821
“frits” frequency rank
61379
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature frite frits
Definition Pomme de terre coupée en bâtonnets et frite dans l’huile. Masculin pluriel de frit.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
frite
5 ch
frits

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: frite is \fʁit\ while frits is \fʁi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “frite” becomes s in “frits”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61379, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

frite is recorded at frequency rank #23,558, classified as anoun, pronounced \fʁit\. 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 61379, this pair ranks #92,594 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of frite vs frits

Shared letters: firt. Private to "frite": e. Private to "frits": s.

"frite" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "frits" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • friteffrite · firte · friet · fritte · frrite · frtie · rfite
  • fritsffrits · fritss · fritts · frrits · frtis · rfits

Frequency comparison

frite#23,558
frits#37,821

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "frite" and "frits" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "frite" is a noun and "frits" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "frite" or "frits"?
"frite" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,558 in our French list, against #37,821 for "frits". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering frite vs frits

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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