Which to use
“fontaine” and “fontana” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,743
- “fontaine” frequency rank
- #48,897
- “fontana” frequency rank
- 87640
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fontaine | fontana |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Born, Quelle, Brunnen, Fontäne, Springbrunnen | Brunnen, Springbrunnen |
Where the eye mixes fontaine and fontana
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. fontaine runs 8 letters (CVCCVVCV) against fontana's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses fontaine with fontana
A purely visual mix-up. fontaine ([fɔ̃.tɛn]) and fontana ([fɔnˈtana]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 87640, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fontaine is recorded at frequency rank #38,743, classified as anoun, pronounced [fɔ̃.tɛn]. fontana is at rank #48,897, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fɔnˈtana].
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 87640, this pair ranks #77,782 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fontaine vs fontana
Shared letters: afnot. Private to "fontaine": ei. Private to "fontana": -.
"fontaine" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV · "fontana" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fontaine" for "fontana" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fontaine" vs "fontana" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fontaine" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fontana" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #77,782 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fontaine" and "fontana" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fontana vs fortuna". 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 #77,782 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.