Which to use
“foins” and “fonds” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,534
- “foins” frequency rank
- #1,062
- “fonds” frequency rank
- 49596
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | foins | fonds |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de foin. | Ensemble de biens matériels ou immatériels servant à l’usage principal d’une activité. |
Where the eye mixes foins and fonds
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. foins (CVVCC) and fonds (CVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between foins and fonds
A purely visual mix-up. foins (\fwɛ̃\) and fonds (\fɔ̃\) 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 49596, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
foins is recorded at frequency rank #48,534, classified as anoun, pronounced \fwɛ̃\. fonds is at rank #1,062, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɔ̃\.
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 49596, this pair ranks #169,350 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of foins vs fonds
Shared letters: fnos. Private to "foins": i. Private to "fonds": d.
"foins" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "fonds" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "foins" and "fonds" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "foins" vs "fonds" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "foins" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fonds" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #169,350 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "foins" and "fonds" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "foies vs foins". 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 #169,350 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.