Which to use
“feuilles” is a noun and “fouillée” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,717
- “feuilles” frequency rank
- #36,848
- “fouillée” frequency rank
- 39565
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | feuilles | fouillée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de feuille. | Participe passé féminin singulier de fouiller. |
Where the eye mixes feuilles and fouillée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. feuilles (CVVVCCVC) and fouillée (CVVVCCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between feuilles and fouillée
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: feuilles is \fœj\ while fouillée is \fu.je\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39565, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
feuilles is recorded at frequency rank #2,717, classified as anoun, pronounced \fœj\. fouillée is at rank #36,848, tagged as averb, pronounced \fu.je\.
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 39565, this pair ranks #247,027 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of feuilles vs fouillée
Shared letters: efilu. Private to "feuilles": s. Private to "fouillée": oé.
"feuilles" · 8 letters · shape CVVVCCVC · "fouillée" · 8 letters · shape CVVVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- feuilles ← efuilles · feiulles · feuilels · feuiles · feuilless · feuillse · feuliles · ffeuilles
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "feuilles" and "fouillée" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "feuilles" or "fouillée"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "feuilles" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fouillée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #247,027 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "feuilles" and "fouillée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fouillée vs fouillent". 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 #247,027 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.