follvsfousWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#35,043
“foll” frequency rank
#2,126
“fous” frequency rank
37169
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature foll fous
Definition Fou. Masculin pluriel de fou.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
foll
4 ch
fous

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. foll (\ˈfɔlː\) and fous (\fu\) 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 37169, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

foll is recorded at frequency rank #35,043, classified as anadj, pronounced \ˈfɔlː\. fous is at rank #2,126, tagged as anadj, 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 37169, this pair ranks #264,396 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of foll vs fous

Shared letters: fo. Private to "foll": l. Private to "fous": su.

"foll" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "fous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • follffoll · flol · ofll
  • fousffous · fosu · fouss · fuos · ofus

Frequency comparison

foll#35,043
fous#2,126

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "foll" and "fous" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ˈfɔlː\ versus \fu\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "foll" or "fous"?
"fous" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,126 in our French list, against #35,043 for "foll". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering foll vs fous

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 “foll” 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