Which to use
“fin” and “foi” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #168
- “fin” frequency rank
- #1,478
- “foi” frequency rank
- 1646
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fin | foi |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ce qui termine une chose, en marque la limite, en est l'extrémité. | Croyance aux dogmes de la religion, en Dieu. |
Where the eye mixes fin and foi
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses fin with foi
A purely visual mix-up. fin (\fɛ̃\) and foi (\fwa\) 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 1646, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fin is recorded at frequency rank #168, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɛ̃\. foi is at rank #1,478, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fwa\.
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 1646, this pair ranks #437,645 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fin vs foi
Shared letters: fi. Private to "fin": n. Private to "foi": o.
"fin" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "foi" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fin" and "foi" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "fin" vs "foi" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fin" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "foi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #437,645 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fin" and "foi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fee vs foi". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #437,645 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.