fongvsforkConfusable pair

Which to use

“fong” and “fork” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#28,923
“fong” frequency rank
#6,788
“fork” frequency rank
35711
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fong fork
Definition A kick. Any of several types of pronged (tined) tools (physical tools), as follows:

Letter map: fong vs fork

Shared letters muted; letters that set fong and fork apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
fong
4 ch
fork

Spelling & dictionary notes on fong vs fork

fong and fork are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35711, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fong is recorded at frequency rank #28,923, classified as anoun. fork is at rank #6,788, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fɔːk/.

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 35711, this pair ranks #309,567 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fong vs fork

Shared letters: fo. Private to "fong": gn. Private to "fork": kr.

"fong" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "fork" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fongffong · fnog · fogn · fongg · fonng · ofng
  • forkffork · fokr · forkk · forrk · frok · ofrk

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fong" for "fork" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "fong" vs "fork" - which ranks higher?
"fork" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,788 in our English list, against #28,923 for "fong". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "fong" and "fork". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fong" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fork" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #309,567 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fong" and "fork" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "FOMO vs fong". 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 #309,567 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list