foinsvsfontsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#48,534
“foins” frequency rank
#39,304
“fonts” frequency rank
87838
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature foins fonts
Definition Pluriel de foin. Pluriel de font.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set foins and fonts apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
foins
5 ch
fonts

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. foins (\fwɛ̃\) and fonts (\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 87838, 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\. fonts is at rank #39,304, 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 87838, this pair ranks #7,739 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of foins vs fonts

Shared letters: fnos. Private to "foins": i. Private to "fonts": t.

"foins" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "fonts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • foinsffoins · fions · foinns · foinss · foisn · fonis · ofins
  • fontsffonts · fnots · fonnts · fonst · fontss · fontts · fotns · ofnts

Frequency comparison

foins#48,534
fonts#39,304

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "foins" and "fonts" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\fwɛ̃\ versus \fɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "foins" or "fonts"?
"fonts" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,304 in our French list, against #48,534 for "foins". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering foins vs fonts

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 “foins” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list