Which to use
“foncer” and “forcer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,428
- “foncer” frequency rank
- #3,921
- “forcer” frequency rank
- 21349
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | foncer | forcer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Garnir d’un fond. | Briser, rompre, ouvrir quelque chose avec violence. |
Where the eye mixes foncer and forcer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between foncer and forcer
A purely visual mix-up. foncer (\fɔ̃.se\) and forcer (\fɔʁ.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 a single letter - n in “foncer” becomes r in “forcer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21349, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
foncer is recorded at frequency rank #17,428, classified as averb, pronounced \fɔ̃.se\. forcer is at rank #3,921, tagged as averb, pronounced \fɔʁ.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 21349, this pair ranks #363,638 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of foncer vs forcer
Shared letters: cefor. Private to "foncer": n. Private to "forcer": -.
"foncer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "forcer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "foncer" for "forcer" ever safe?
Frequency check: "foncer" vs "forcer" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "foncer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "forcer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #363,638 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "foncer" and "forcer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "foncer vs fronce". 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 #363,638 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.