Which to use
“enfouir” and “enfui” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,770
- “enfouir” frequency rank
- #26,717
- “enfui” frequency rank
- 68487
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | enfouir | enfui |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Enterrer dans un trou creusé à cet effet et le recouvrir une fois mis en terre. | Participe passé masculin singulier de enfuir. |
Where the eye mixes enfouir and enfui
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. enfouir runs 7 letters (VCCVVVC) against enfui's 5 (VCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses enfouir with enfui
A purely visual mix-up. enfouir (\ɑ̃.fwiʁ\) and enfui (\ɑ̃.fɥi\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68487, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
enfouir is recorded at frequency rank #41,770, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.fwiʁ\. enfui is at rank #26,717, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.fɥi\.
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 68487, this pair ranks #59,003 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of enfouir vs enfui
Shared letters: efinu. Private to "enfouir": or. Private to "enfui": -.
"enfouir" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVVC · "enfui" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "enfouir" for "enfui" ever safe?
Which is more common, "enfouir" or "enfui"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "enfouir" and "enfui" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "enfouir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "enfui" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #59,003 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "enfouir" and "enfui" 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 #59,003 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.