fondéevsfondésWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: fondée is a verb, fondés is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fondée” is a verb and “fondés” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,612
“fondée” frequency rank
#17,711
“fondés” frequency rank
21323
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fondée fondés
Definition Participe passé féminin singulier de fonder. Pluriel de fondé.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fondée and fondés apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
fondée
6 ch
fondés

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: fondée and fondés carry the same recorded pronunciation, \fɔ̃.de\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by a single letter - e in “fondée” becomes s in “fondés”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21323, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fondée is recorded at frequency rank #3,612, classified as averb, pronounced \fɔ̃.de\. fondés is at rank #17,711, tagged as anoun, 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 21323, this pair ranks #363,761 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fondée vs fondés

Shared letters: dfnoé. Private to "fondée": e. Private to "fondés": s.

"fondée" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "fondés" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequency comparison

fondée#3,612
fondés#17,711

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fondée" and "fondés" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fondée" is a verb and "fondés" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fondée" or "fondés"?
"fondée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,612 in our French list, against #17,711 for "fondés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fondée vs fondés

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “fondée”; for a noun, it's “fondés”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fondée” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list