Which to use
“foray” is a noun and “forty” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,464
- “foray” frequency rank
- #5,130
- “forty” frequency rank
- 32594
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | foray | forty |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A sudden or irregular incursion in border warfare; hence, any irregular incursion for war or spoils; a raid. | The cardinal number occurring after thirty-nine and before forty-one, represented in Roman numerals as XL and in Arabic numerals as 40. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set foray and forty apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: foray is /ˈfɒɹ.eɪ/ while forty is /ˈfɔːti/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “foray” becomes t in “forty”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32594, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
foray is recorded at frequency rank #27,464, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɒɹ.eɪ/. forty is at rank #5,130, tagged as anum, pronounced /ˈfɔːti/.
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 32594, this pair ranks #336,490 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of foray vs forty
Shared letters: fory. Private to "foray": a. Private to "forty": t.
"foray" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "forty" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "foray" and "forty" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "foray" or "forty"?
Remembering foray vs forty
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “foray”; for a num, it's “forty”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “foray” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable