fondvsfoyWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: fond is a adjective, foy is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#8,424
“fond” frequency rank
#36,566
“foy” frequency rank
44990
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fond foy
Definition Having a liking or affection (for). Faith, allegiance.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
fond
3 ch
foy

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: fond is anadjective and foyanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44990, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fond is recorded at frequency rank #8,424, classified as anadj, pronounced /fɒnd/. foy is at rank #36,566, tagged as anoun.

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 44990, this pair ranks #225,460 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fond vs foy

Shared letters: fo. Private to "fond": dn. Private to "foy": y.

"fond" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "foy" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fondffond · fnod · fodn · fondd · fonnd · ofnd

Frequency comparison

fond#8,424
foy#36,566

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fond" and "foy" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fond" is an adjective and "foy" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fond" or "foy"?
"fond" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,424 in our English list, against #36,566 for "foy". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fond vs foy

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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