foievsforkWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,041
“foie” frequency rank
#46,769
“fork” frequency rank
51810
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature foie fork
Definition Organe présent chez l’être humain et chez la plupart des vertébrés, produisant la bile. Il sert, entre autres, à régler le métabolisme des glucides. Appel système du système UNIX qui duplique un processus existant.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set foie and fork apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
foie
4 ch
fork

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. foie (\fwa\) 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 51810, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

foie is recorded at frequency rank #5,041, classified as anoun, pronounced \fwa\. 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 51810, this pair ranks #152,292 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of foie vs fork

Shared letters: fo. Private to "foie": ei. Private to "fork": kr.

"foie" · 4 letters · shape CVVV  ·  "fork" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • foieffoie · fioe · foei · ofie
  • forkffork · fokr · forkk · forrk · frok · ofrk

Frequency comparison

foie#5,041
fork#46,769

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "foie" and "fork" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\fwa\ versus \fɔʁk\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "foie" or "fork"?
"foie" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,041 in our French list, against #46,769 for "fork". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering foie vs fork

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 “foie” 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