FETvsfoesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: FET is a name, foes is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“FET” is a name and “foes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#40,696
“FET” frequency rank
#16,472
“foes” frequency rank
57168
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature FET foes
Definition Ellipsis of FET y de las JONS, a political party in Francoist Spain. plural of foe

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set FET and foes apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
FET
4 ch
foes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: FET is aname and foesanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57168, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

FET is recorded at frequency rank #40,696, classified as aname. foes is at rank #16,472, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fəʊz/.

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 57168, this pair ranks #121,136 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of FET vs foes

Shared letters: ef. Private to "FET": t. Private to "foes": os.

"FET" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "foes" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • foesfeos · ffoes · foess · fose · ofes

Frequency comparison

FET#40,696
foes#16,472

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "FET" and "foes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "FET" is a name and "foes" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "FET" or "foes"?
"foes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,472 in our English list, against #40,696 for "FET". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering FET vs foes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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