Which to use
“enfouie” is an adjective and “enfouir” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,778
- “enfouie” frequency rank
- #41,770
- “enfouir” frequency rank
- 81548
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | enfouie | enfouir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de enfoui. | Enterrer dans un trou creusé à cet effet et le recouvrir une fois mis en terre. |
Where the eye mixes enfouie and enfouir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. enfouie (VCCVVVV) and enfouir (VCCVVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between enfouie and enfouir
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: enfouie is \ɑ̃.fwi\ while enfouir is \ɑ̃.fwiʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “enfouie” becomes r in “enfouir”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81548, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
enfouie is recorded at frequency rank #39,778, classified as anadj, 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 81548, this pair ranks #18,527 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of enfouie vs enfouir
Shared letters: efinou. Private to "enfouie": -. Private to "enfouir": r.
"enfouie" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVVV · "enfouir" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "enfouie" and "enfouir" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "enfouie" or "enfouir"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "enfouie" 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 #18,527 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "enfouie" 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 #18,527 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.