foisvsforkWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#104
“fois” frequency rank
#46,769
“fork” frequency rank
46873
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fois fork
Definition Nom qui se joint à un adjectif numéral pour indiquer qu’un fait s’est produit ou s’est répété. Appel système du système UNIX qui duplique un processus existant.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
fois
4 ch
fork

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. fois (\fwa\) 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 46873, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fois is recorded at frequency rank #104, classified as anoun, pronounced \fwa\. 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 46873, this pair ranks #191,372 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fois vs fork

Shared letters: fo. Private to "fois": is. Private to "fork": kr.

"fois" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "fork" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • foisffois · fios · foiss · fosi · ofis
  • forkffork · fokr · forkk · forrk · frok · ofrk

Frequency comparison

fois#104
fork#46,769

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fois" and "fork" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\fwa\ versus \fɔʁk\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fois" or "fork"?
"fois" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #104 in our French list, against #46,769 for "fork". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering fois 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 “fois” 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