Which to use
“fouled” is a verb and “fouls” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,431
- “fouled” frequency rank
- #23,837
- “fouls” frequency rank
- 50268
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fouled | fouls |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of foul | plural of foul |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fouled and fouls apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
fouled and fouls form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50268, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fouled is recorded at frequency rank #26,431, classified as averb, pronounced /faʊld/. fouls is at rank #23,837, tagged as anoun, pronounced /faʊlz/.
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 50268, this pair ranks #175,834 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fouled" and "fouls" be used interchangeably?
Remembering fouled vs fouls
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “fouled”; for a noun, it's “fouls”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fouled” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable