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Fore or four?

fore is a prefix meaning “Before: the root is happening earlier in time”; four is a number meaning “A numerical value equal to 4; the number following three and preceding five”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) four is about 102 times as common as fore.

foreorfour

What is the difference between fore and four?

forefour
Part of speechprefix, adjective, interjection, noun, adverb, prepositionnumber, noun
Meaning

Before: the root is happening earlier in time

The early stage of the root time period

Used to indicate error, exclusion, or inadequacy; Alternative form of for-

A numerical value equal to 4; the number following three and preceding five

Describing a set or group with four elements

The digit or figure 4; an occurrence thereof

ExampleforeshadowThere are four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter
Formsforemostfower, fouh
Pronunciation/fɔː/ /fɔɹ/ /foːɹ//foɹ/ [foːɾ] [fɔː]
In writing3.3 times per million words339 times per million words

Sources: fore and four in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Every current meaning of fore and four

fore

  1. 1

    prefix Before: the root is happening earlier in time

    foreshadow

  2. 2

    prefix Used to indicate error, exclusion, or inadequacy; Alternative form of for-

    forelay

  3. 3

    prefix Alternative form of for-: outside, out

    foreclose

  4. 4

    adjective Forward; situated towards the front (of something)

  5. 5

    interjection An exclamation yelled to inform players a ball is moving in their direction

  6. 6

    noun The front; the forward part of something; the foreground

  7. 7

    adverb In the part that precedes or goes first; opposed to aft, after, back, behind, etc

  8. 8

    noun A people of Papua New Guinea

four

  1. 1

    number A numerical value equal to 4; the number following three and preceding five

    There are four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter

  2. 2

    noun The digit or figure 4; an occurrence thereof

  3. 3

    number Describing a set or group with four elements

  4. 4

    noun Anything measuring four units, as length

    Do you have any more fours? I want to make this a little taller

  5. 5

    noun Four o'clock

  6. 6

    noun A person who is four years old

    I'll take the threes, fours and fives and go to the playground

  7. 7

    noun An event in which the batsmen run four times between the wickets or, more often, a batsman hits a ball which bounces on the ground before passing over a boundary, resulting in an award of 4 runs for…

  8. 8

    noun A power forward

Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.

Which is more common, fore or four?

fore appears 3.3 times per million words; four 339 times per million words.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

The words