Which to use
“folio” and “foo” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,022
- “folio” frequency rank
- #43,447
- “foo” frequency rank
- 62469
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | folio | foo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Feuillet, en parlant de registres, de manuscrits, etc., numérotés par feuillets, et non par pages. | Variable métasyntaxique en programmation informatique. |
Where the eye mixes folio and foo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between folio and foo
A purely visual mix-up. folio (\fɔ.ljo\) and foo (\fu\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62469, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
folio is recorded at frequency rank #19,022, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɔ.ljo\. foo is at rank #43,447, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fu\.
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 62469, this pair ranks #86,942 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of folio vs foo
Shared letters: fo. Private to "folio": il. Private to "foo": -.
"folio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "foo" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- folio ← ffolio · floio · foilo · follio · foloi · oflio
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "folio" for "foo" ever safe?
Frequency check: "folio" vs "foo" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "folio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "foo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #86,942 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "folio" and "foo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fee vs foo". 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 #86,942 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.