Which to use
“fondé” is an adjective and “fondées” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,259
- “fondé” frequency rank
- #12,970
- “fondées” frequency rank
- 16229
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fondé | fondées |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Justifié, qui s’appuie sur des faits. | Participe passé féminin pluriel de fonder. |
Same sound, different letters: fondé vs fondées
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters. fondé runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against fondées's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: fondé vs fondées
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: fondé and fondées carry the same recorded pronunciation, \fɔ̃.de\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “fondé” sits inside “fondées”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16229, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fondé is recorded at frequency rank #3,259, classified as anadj, pronounced \fɔ̃.de\. fondées is at rank #12,970, tagged as averb, pronounced \fɔ̃.de\.
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 16229, this pair ranks #388,794 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fondé vs fondées
Shared letters: dfnoé. Private to "fondé": -. Private to "fondées": es.
"fondé" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "fondées" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fondé" and "fondées" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "fondé" or "fondées"?
What to do next
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "fondé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fondées" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #388,794 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fondé" and "fondées" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fondées vs fondeurs". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #388,794 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.