fondéesvsfondsWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#12,970
“fondées” frequency rank
#1,062
“fonds” frequency rank
14032
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fondées fonds
Definition Participe passé féminin pluriel de fonder. Ensemble de biens matériels ou immatériels servant à l’usage principal d’une activité.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
fondées
5 ch
fonds

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fondées is \fɔ̃.de\ while fonds is \fɔ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14032, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fondées is recorded at frequency rank #12,970, classified as averb, pronounced \fɔ̃.de\. fonds is at rank #1,062, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɔ̃\.

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 14032, this pair ranks #398,487 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fondées vs fonds

Shared letters: dfnos. Private to "fondées": . Private to "fonds": -.

"fondées" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "fonds" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fondsffonds · fnods · fodns · fondds · fondss · fonnds · fonsd · ofnds

Frequency comparison

fondées#12,970
fonds#1,062

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fondées" and "fonds" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fondées" is a verb and "fonds" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fondées" or "fonds"?
"fonds" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,062 in our French list, against #12,970 for "fondées". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering fondées vs fonds

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “fondées”; for a noun, it's “fonds”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fondées” 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