Which to use
“folles” is an adjective and “Forbes” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,503
- “folles” frequency rank
- #19,023
- “Forbes” frequency rank
- 29526
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | folles | Forbes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de fou. | Nom de famille, connu pour Bertie Charles Forbes, qui a donné son nom à un magazine. |
Letter map: folles vs Forbes
Shared letters muted; letters that set folles and Forbes apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.
Grammar separator: folles vs Forbes
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: folles is anadjective and Forbesaname. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29526, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
folles is recorded at frequency rank #10,503, classified as anadj, pronounced \fɔl\. Forbes is at rank #19,023, tagged as aname.
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 29526, this pair ranks #316,123 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of folles vs Forbes
Shared letters: efos. Private to "folles": l. Private to "Forbes": br.
"folles" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Forbes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "folles" for "Forbes" ever safe?
Which is more common, "folles" or "Forbes"?
Useful next steps
You've compared "folles" and "Forbes". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "folles" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Forbes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #316,123 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "folles" and "Forbes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "foies vs Forbes". 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 #316,123 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.