Which to use
“foncent” and “foncez” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,048
- “foncent” frequency rank
- #27,444
- “foncez” frequency rank
- 72492
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | foncent | foncez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de foncer. | Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de foncer. |
Where the eye mixes foncent and foncez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. foncent runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against foncez's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses foncent with foncez
A purely visual mix-up. foncent (\fɔ̃s\) and foncez (\fɔ̃.se\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72492, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
foncent is recorded at frequency rank #45,048, classified as averb, pronounced \fɔ̃s\. foncez is at rank #27,444, tagged as averb, pronounced \fɔ̃.se\.
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 72492, this pair ranks #43,807 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of foncent vs foncez
Shared letters: cefno. Private to "foncent": t. Private to "foncez": z.
"foncent" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "foncez" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "foncent" and "foncez" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "foncent" or "foncez"?
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 "foncent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "foncez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #43,807 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "foncent" and "foncez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "foncées vs foncent". 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 #43,807 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.