Which to use
“enfoui” and “enfouir” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,424
- “enfoui” frequency rank
- #41,770
- “enfouir” frequency rank
- 69194
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | enfoui | enfouir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe passé masculin singulier du verbe enfouir. | Enterrer dans un trou creusé à cet effet et le recouvrir une fois mis en terre. |
Where the eye mixes enfoui and enfouir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. enfoui runs 6 letters (VCCVVV) against enfouir's 7 (VCCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses enfoui with enfouir
A purely visual mix-up. enfoui (\ɑ̃.fwi\) and enfouir (\ɑ̃.fwiʁ\) 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 extra letter(s) - “enfoui” sits inside “enfouir”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69194, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
enfoui is recorded at frequency rank #27,424, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.fwi\. enfouir is at rank #41,770, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.fwiʁ\.
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 69194, this pair ranks #56,104 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of enfoui vs enfouir
Shared letters: efinou. Private to "enfoui": -. Private to "enfouir": r.
"enfoui" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVV · "enfouir" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "enfoui" and "enfouir" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "enfoui" or "enfouir" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "enfoui" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "enfouir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #56,104 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "enfoui" and "enfouir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "encourir vs enfouir". 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 #56,104 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.