Which to use
“foin” and “fork” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,388
- “foin” frequency rank
- #46,769
- “fork” frequency rank
- 60157
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | foin | fork |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Herbe fauchée et séchée qui sert principalement à la nourriture des chevaux et des bestiaux. | Appel système du système UNIX qui duplique un processus existant. |
Where the eye mixes foin and fork
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. foin (CVVC) and fork (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between foin and fork
A purely visual mix-up. foin (\fwɛ̃\) 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 60157, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
foin is recorded at frequency rank #13,388, classified as anoun, pronounced \fwɛ̃\. 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 60157, this pair ranks #99,154 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of foin vs fork
Shared letters: fo. Private to "foin": in. Private to "fork": kr.
"foin" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "fork" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "foin" and "fork" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "foin" or "fork"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "foin" and "fork" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "foin" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fork" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #99,154 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "foin" and "fork" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fork vs FPR". 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 #99,154 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.