question de fond

/\kɛs.tjɔ̃ də fɔ̃\/ noun

The verdict

“question de fond” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
16
letters

Dominant Wiktionary sense: Question importante.

Key facts for question de fond
PropertyValue
Headwordquestion de fond
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\kɛs.tjɔ̃ də fɔ̃\
Letters16
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “question de fond” sits in French frequency

question de fond falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for question de fond is 16 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \kɛs.tjɔ̃ də fɔ̃\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Question importante.".

No misspelling variants are generated for question de fond in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct French form is question de fond, spelled Q-U-E-S-T-I-O-N- -D-E- -F-O-N-D, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Question importante.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Cite this page

Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY-SA). Copy the citation:

PlainSpell, “question de fond, French word data” (May 6, 2026). Derived from Wiktionary (kaikki.org, CC BY-SA) and an open word-frequency list. https://plainspell.com/fr/mot/question-de-fond

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "question de fond"?
"question de fond" is spelled Q-U-E-S-T-I-O-N- -D-E- -F-O-N-D. The IPA pronunciation is \kɛs.tjɔ̃ də fɔ̃\.
What does "question de fond" mean?
As a noun, "question de fond" means: Question importante.
How do you pronounce "question de fond"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "question de fond" is \kɛs.tjɔ̃ də fɔ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "question de fond" come from?
"question de fond" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “question de fond”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is Q-U-E-S-T-I-O-N- -D-E- -F-O-N-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \kɛs.tjɔ̃ də fɔ̃\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words

Nearby French words

Other entries that begin with the letter Q in our French index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list