flottesvsfontesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“flottes” and “fontes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#24,977
“flottes” frequency rank
#46,178
“fontes” frequency rank
71155
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature flottes fontes
Definition Pluriel de flotte. Fourreau de cuir pour les pistolets.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set flottes and fontes apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
flottes
6 ch
fontes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. flottes (\flɔt\) 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 71155, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

flottes is recorded at frequency rank #24,977, classified as anoun, pronounced \flɔt\. 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 71155, this pair ranks #48,604 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of flottes vs fontes

Shared letters: efost. Private to "flottes": l. Private to "fontes": n.

"flottes" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "fontes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • flottesfflottes · fllottes · flotes · flotets · flottess · flottse · fltotes · folttes
  • fontesffontes · fnotes · fonets · fonntes · fontess · fontse · fonttes · fotnes

Frequency comparison

flottes#24,977
fontes#46,178

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "flottes" and "fontes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\flɔt\ versus \fɔ̃t\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "flottes" or "fontes"?
"flottes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,977 in our French list, against #46,178 for "fontes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering flottes vs fontes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “flottes” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list