Which to use
“fondés” is a noun and “fondus” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,711
- “fondés” frequency rank
- #31,499
- “fondus” frequency rank
- 49210
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fondés | fondus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de fondé. | Participe passé masculin pluriel du verbe fondre. |
Where the eye mixes fondés and fondus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses fondés with fondus
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fondés is \fɔ̃.de\ while fondus is \fɔ̃.dy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - é in “fondés” becomes u in “fondus”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49210, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fondés is recorded at frequency rank #17,711, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɔ̃.de\. fondus is at rank #31,499, tagged as averb, pronounced \fɔ̃.dy\.
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 49210, this pair ranks #172,539 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fondés vs fondus
Shared letters: dfnos. Private to "fondés": é. Private to "fondus": u.
"fondés" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "fondus" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- fondus ← ffondus · fnodus · fodnus · fonddus · fondsu · fonduss · fonndus · fonuds
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fondés" and "fondus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "fondés" vs "fondus" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fondés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fondus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #172,539 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fondés" and "fondus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fondeurs vs fondus". 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 #172,539 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.