Which to use
“folies” and “formes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,382
- “folies” frequency rank
- #1,626
- “formes” frequency rank
- 17008
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | folies | formes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de folie. | Pluriel de forme. |
Where the eye mixes folies and formes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. folies (CVCVVC) and formes (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses folies with formes
A purely visual mix-up. folies (\fɔ.li\) and formes (\fɔʁm\) 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 17008, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
folies is recorded at frequency rank #15,382, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɔ.li\. formes is at rank #1,626, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɔʁm\.
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 17008, this pair ranks #385,236 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of folies vs formes
Shared letters: efos. Private to "folies": il. Private to "formes": mr.
"folies" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "formes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "folies" and "formes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "folies" vs "formes" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "folies" and "formes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "folies" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "formes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #385,236 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "folies" and "formes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "foins vs folies". 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 #385,236 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.