Which to use
“foins” and “freins” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,534
- “foins” frequency rank
- #10,708
- “freins” frequency rank
- 59242
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | foins | freins |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de foin. | Pluriel de frein. |
Where the eye mixes foins and freins
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. foins runs 5 letters (CVVCC) against freins's 6 (CCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between foins and freins
A purely visual mix-up. foins (\fwɛ̃\) and freins (\fʁɛ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59242, 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\. freins is at rank #10,708, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fʁɛ̃\.
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 59242, this pair ranks #104,262 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of foins vs freins
Shared letters: fins. Private to "foins": o. Private to "freins": er.
"foins" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "freins" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "foins" and "freins" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "foins" vs "freins" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
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 "freins" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #104,262 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "foins" and "freins" 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 #104,262 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.