enfoncentvsenfoncerConfusable pair

Which to use

“enfoncent” and “enfoncer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#35,929
“enfoncent” frequency rank
#10,496
“enfoncer” frequency rank
46425
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature enfoncent enfoncer
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de enfoncer. Mettre au fond, pousser vers le fond, faire pénétrer bien avant.

Where the eye mixes enfoncent and enfoncer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. enfoncent runs 9 letters (VCCVCCVCC) against enfoncer's 8 (VCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
enfoncent
8 ch
enfoncer

Visual trap between enfoncent and enfoncer

A purely visual mix-up. enfoncent (\ɑ̃.fɔ̃s\) and enfoncer (\ɑ̃.fɔ̃.se\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46425, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

enfoncent is recorded at frequency rank #35,929, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.fɔ̃s\. enfoncer is at rank #10,496, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.fɔ̃.se\.

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 46425, this pair ranks #195,042 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of enfoncent vs enfoncer

Shared letters: cefno. Private to "enfoncent": t. Private to "enfoncer": r.

"enfoncent" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCVCC  ·  "enfoncer" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • enfoncentefnoncent · enffoncent · enfnocent · enfocnent · enfonccent · enfoncennt · enfoncentt · enfoncetn
  • enfoncerefnoncer · enffoncer · enfnocer · enfocner · enfonccer · enfoncerr · enfoncre · enfonecr

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "enfoncent" and "enfoncer" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɑ̃.fɔ̃s\ versus \ɑ̃.fɔ̃.se\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "enfoncent" or "enfoncer"?
"enfoncer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,496 in our French list, against #35,929 for "enfoncent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "enfoncent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "enfoncer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #195,042 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "enfoncent" and "enfoncer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "enfonçant vs enfoncent". 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 #195,042 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list