Which to use
“foncées” and “foulées” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,951
- “foncées” frequency rank
- #46,180
- “foulées” frequency rank
- 82131
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | foncées | foulées |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de foncée. | Traces légères que la bête laisse de son pied, en passant sur l’herbe ou sur les feuilles. |
Where the eye mixes foncées and foulées
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. foncées (CVCCVVC) and foulées (CVVCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses foncées with foulées
A purely visual mix-up. foncées (\fɔ̃.se\) and foulées (\fu.le\) 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 82131, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
foncées is recorded at frequency rank #35,951, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɔ̃.se\. foulées is at rank #46,180, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fu.le\.
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 82131, this pair ranks #17,348 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of foncées vs foulées
Shared letters: efosé. Private to "foncées": cn. Private to "foulées": lu.
"foncées" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "foulées" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "foncées" and "foulées" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "foncées" vs "foulées" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "foncées" and "foulées" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "foncées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "foulées" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #17,348 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "foncées" and "foulées" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fouets vs foulées". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #17,348 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.