Which to use
“foi” is a noun and “fol” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,478
- “foi” frequency rank
- #23,215
- “fol” frequency rank
- 24693
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | foi | fol |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Croyance aux dogmes de la religion, en Dieu. | Masculin singulier de fou lorsque le substantif qui suit dans la phrase commence par une voyelle ou un h muet. |
Where the eye mixes foi and fol
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between foi and fol
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: foi is \fwa\ while fol is \fɔl\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “foi” becomes l in “fol”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24693, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
foi is recorded at frequency rank #1,478, classified as anoun, pronounced \fwa\. fol is at rank #23,215, tagged as anadj, pronounced \fɔl\.
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 24693, this pair ranks #345,154 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of foi vs fol
Shared letters: fo. Private to "foi": i. Private to "fol": l.
"foi" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "fol" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "foi" and "fol" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "foi" or "fol"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "foi" and "fol" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "foi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fol" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #345,154 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "foi" and "fol" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fee vs fol". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #345,154 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.