Which to use
“Fon” is an abbrev and “Foul” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,878
- “Fon” frequency rank
- #16,991
- “Foul” frequency rank
- 60869
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Fon | Foul |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Telefon | Regelverstoß, bei dem der Gegenspieler mit unfairen und unsportlichen Mitteln benachteiligt wird |
Where the eye mixes Fon and Foul
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Fon runs 3 letters (CVC) against Foul's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Fon with Foul
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Fon is [foːn] while Foul is [faʊ̯l]. 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 (abbrev vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60869, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Fon is recorded at frequency rank #43,878, classified as anabbrev, pronounced [foːn]. Foul is at rank #16,991, tagged as anoun, pronounced [faʊ̯l].
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 60869, this pair ranks #770,869 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Fon vs Foul
Shared letters: fo. Private to "Fon": n. Private to "Foul": lu.
"Fon" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "Foul" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Foul ← ffoul · folu · foull · fuol · oful
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Fon" for "Foul" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Fon" or "Foul"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "Fon" and "Foul" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Fon" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Foul" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #770,869 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Fon" and "Foul" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fock vs Fon". 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 #770,869 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.