Which to use
“fonda” and “fondait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,289
- “fonda” frequency rank
- #45,049
- “fondait” frequency rank
- 64338
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fonda | fondait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de fonder. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de fonder. |
Where the eye mixes fonda and fondait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fonda runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against fondait's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between fonda and fondait
A purely visual mix-up. fonda (\fɔ̃.da\) and fondait (\fɔ̃.dɛ\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “fonda” sits inside “fondait”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64338, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fonda is recorded at frequency rank #19,289, classified as averb, pronounced \fɔ̃.da\. fondait is at rank #45,049, tagged as averb, pronounced \fɔ̃.dɛ\.
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 64338, this pair ranks #77,538 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fonda vs fondait
Shared letters: adfno. Private to "fonda": -. Private to "fondait": it.
"fonda" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "fondait" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fonda" and "fondait" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "fonda" vs "fondait" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fonda" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fondait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #77,538 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fonda" and "fondait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fondait vs forçait". 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 #77,538 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.