Which to use
“fermer” and “formez” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,424
- “fermer” frequency rank
- #30,614
- “formez” frequency rank
- 33038
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fermer | formez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Clore ce qui était ouvert, par une porte, un couvercle, une trappe, etc. | Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de former. |
Where the eye mixes fermer and formez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fermer and formez follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between fermer and formez
A purely visual mix-up. fermer (\fɛʁ.me\) and formez (\fɔʁ.me\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33038, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fermer is recorded at frequency rank #2,424, classified as averb, pronounced \fɛʁ.me\. formez is at rank #30,614, tagged as averb, pronounced \fɔʁ.me\.
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 33038, this pair ranks #293,268 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fermer vs formez
Shared letters: efmr. Private to "fermer": -. Private to "formez": oz.
"fermer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "formez" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fermer" for "formez" ever safe?
Which is more common, "fermer" or "formez"?
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 "fermer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "formez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #293,268 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fermer" and "formez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "forman vs formez". 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 #293,268 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.