Which to use
“fers” and “fork” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,837
- “fers” frequency rank
- #46,769
- “fork” frequency rank
- 66606
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fers | fork |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de fer. | Appel système du système UNIX qui duplique un processus existant. |
Where the eye mixes fers and fork
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. fers and fork follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between fers and fork
A purely visual mix-up. fers (\fɛʁ\) and fork (\fɔʁk\) 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 66606, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fers is recorded at frequency rank #19,837, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɛʁ\. fork is at rank #46,769, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɔʁk\.
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 66606, this pair ranks #67,093 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fers vs fork
Shared letters: fr. Private to "fers": es. Private to "fork": ko.
"fers" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "fork" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fers" and "fork" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "fers" or "fork"?
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 "fers" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fork" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #67,093 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fers" and "fork" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fork vs FPR". 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 #67,093 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.