Which to use
“fonctionnaires” and “fonctionnalités” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,925
- “fonctionnaires” frequency rank
- #11,588
- “fonctionnalités” frequency rank
- 14513
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fonctionnaires | fonctionnalités |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de fonctionnaire. | Pluriel de fonctionnalité. |
Where the eye mixes fonctionnaires and fonctionnalités
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence. fonctionnaires runs 14 letters (CVCCCVVCCVVCVC) against fonctionnalités's 15 (CVCCCVVCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between fonctionnaires and fonctionnalités
A purely visual mix-up. fonctionnaires (\fɔ̃k.sjɔ.nɛʁ\) and fonctionnalités (\fɔ̃k.sjɔ.na.li.te\) 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 14513, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fonctionnaires is recorded at frequency rank #2,925, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɔ̃k.sjɔ.nɛʁ\. fonctionnalités is at rank #11,588, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɔ̃k.sjɔ.na.li.te\.
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 14513, this pair ranks #396,341 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fonctionnaires vs fonctionnalités
Shared letters: acfinost. Private to "fonctionnaires": er. Private to "fonctionnalités": lé.
"fonctionnaires" · 14 letters · shape CVCCCVVCCVVCVC · "fonctionnalités" · 15 letters · shape CVCCCVVCCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- fonctionnaires ← ffonctionnaires · fnoctionnaires · focntionnaires · foncctionnaires · foncitonnaires · fonctinonaires · fonctionaires · fonctionanires
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fonctionnaires" for "fonctionnalités" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "fonctionnaires" or "fonctionnalités" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "fonctionnaires" and "fonctionnalités" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fonctionnaires" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fonctionnalités" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #396,341 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fonctionnaires" and "fonctionnalités" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fonctionnalité vs fonctionnalités". 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 #396,341 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.