Which to use
“fente” and “fontes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,624
- “fente” frequency rank
- #46,178
- “fontes” frequency rank
- 67802
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fente | fontes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Division en long pratiquée à un corps, à une masse quelconque. | Fourreau de cuir pour les pistolets. |
Where the eye mixes fente and fontes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fente runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against fontes's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between fente and fontes
A purely visual mix-up. fente (\fɑ̃t\) and fontes (\fɔ̃t\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67802, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fente is recorded at frequency rank #21,624, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɑ̃t\. fontes is at rank #46,178, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɔ̃t\.
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 67802, this pair ranks #61,854 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fente vs fontes
Shared letters: efnt. Private to "fente": -. Private to "fontes": os.
"fente" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "fontes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fente" and "fontes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "fente" or "fontes"?
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 "fente" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fontes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #61,854 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fente" and "fontes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "foies vs fontes". 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 #61,854 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.