Which to use
“ferry” is a verb and “foray” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,904
- “ferry” frequency rank
- #27,464
- “foray” frequency rank
- 34368
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ferry | foray |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To carry; transport; convey. | A sudden or irregular incursion in border warfare; hence, any irregular incursion for war or spoils; a raid. |
Where the eye mixes ferry and foray
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between ferry and foray
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ferry is /ˈfɛɹ.i/ while foray is /ˈfɒɹ.eɪ/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34368, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ferry is recorded at frequency rank #6,904, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈfɛɹ.i/. foray is at rank #27,464, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɒɹ.eɪ/.
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 34368, this pair ranks #321,458 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ferry vs foray
Shared letters: fry. Private to "ferry": e. Private to "foray": ao.
"ferry" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "foray" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ferry" for "foray" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ferry" or "foray"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "ferry" and "foray" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ferry" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "foray" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #321,458 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ferry" and "foray" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fora vs foray". 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 #321,458 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.