Which to use
“fendre” is a verb and “foudre” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,490
- “fendre” frequency rank
- #7,830
- “foudre” frequency rank
- 39320
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fendre | foudre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Diviser, séparer, couper en long ou en large, ou de toute autre manière. | Décharge électrique, par temps d’orage, entre des nuages et certaines fois entre des nuages et le sol, qui produit une vive lumière (dite éclair) et une violente détonation (dont le son est dit tonnerre). On dit, comme sur la photo, que la foudre est tombée quand elle a touché le sol ou quelque chose en relief sur le sol ou connecté au sol: arbre, construction, etc., a été touché. |
Where the eye mixes fendre and foudre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fendre (CVCCCV) and foudre (CVVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between fendre and foudre
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fendre is \fɑ̃dʁ\ while foudre is \fudʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39320, 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\. foudre is at rank #7,830, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fudʁ\.
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 39320, this pair ranks #248,877 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fendre vs foudre
Shared letters: defr. Private to "fendre": n. Private to "foudre": ou.
"fendre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "foudre" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fendre" and "foudre" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "fendre" vs "foudre" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
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 "foudre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #248,877 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fendre" and "foudre" 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 #248,877 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.