Which to use
“fond” and “four” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #518
- “fond” frequency rank
- #4,150
- “four” frequency rank
- 4668
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fond | four |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Endroit le plus bas, le plus intérieur d’une chose creuse. | (radiotéléphonie) Mot de code radiotéléphonique de l'OACI, OTAN et SIA pour le chiffre 4. |
Where the eye mixes fond and four
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between fond and four
A purely visual mix-up. fond (\fɔ̃\) and four (\ˈfoa\) 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 4668, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fond is recorded at frequency rank #518, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɔ̃\. four is at rank #4,150, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈfoa\.
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 4668, this pair ranks #431,004 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fond vs four
Shared letters: fo. Private to "fond": dn. Private to "four": ru.
"fond" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "four" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fond" for "four" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fond" vs "four" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fond" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "four" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #431,004 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fond" and "four" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "four vs FPR". 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 #431,004 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.