Which to use
“fendre” and “fondre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,490
- “fendre” frequency rank
- #7,829
- “fondre” frequency rank
- 39319
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fendre | fondre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Diviser, séparer, couper en long ou en large, ou de toute autre manière. | Liquéfier ou rendre fluide, au moyen de la chaleur, une substance plus ou moins solide. |
Where the eye mixes fendre and fondre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fendre and fondre follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: fendre vs fondre
A purely visual mix-up. fendre (\fɑ̃dʁ\) and fondre (\fɔ̃dʁ\) 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 a single letter - e in “fendre” becomes o in “fondre”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39319, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fendre is recorded at frequency rank #31,490, classified as averb, pronounced \fɑ̃dʁ\. fondre is at rank #7,829, tagged as averb, pronounced \fɔ̃dʁ\.
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 39319, this pair ranks #248,888 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fendre vs fondre
Shared letters: defnr. Private to "fendre": -. Private to "fondre": o.
"fendre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "fondre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fendre" and "fondre" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "fendre" vs "fondre" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fendre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fondre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #248,888 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fendre" and "fondre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fendre vs fendue". 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 #248,888 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.