foinvsforkWhat's the difference?

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 spellings diverge

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

4 ch
foin
4 ch
fork

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

  • foinffoin · foinn · foni · ofin
  • forkffork · fokr · forkk · forrk · frok · ofrk

Frequency comparison

foin#13,388
fork#46,769

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "foin" and "fork" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\fwɛ̃\ versus \fɔʁk\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "foin" or "fork"?
"foin" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,388 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 foin 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 “foin” 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