fondésvsformesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“fondés” and “formes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#17,711
“fondés” frequency rank
#1,626
“formes” frequency rank
19337
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fondés formes
Definition Pluriel de fondé. Pluriel de forme.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fondés and formes apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
fondés
6 ch
formes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. fondés (\fɔ̃.de\) and formes (\fɔʁm\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19337, 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\. formes is at rank #1,626, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɔʁm\.

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 19337, this pair ranks #373,766 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fondés vs formes

Shared letters: fos. Private to "fondés": dné. Private to "formes": emr.

"fondés" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "formes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • formesfformes · fomres · forems · formess · formmes · formse · forrmes · fromes

Frequency comparison

fondés#17,711
formes#1,626

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fondés" and "formes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\fɔ̃.de\ versus \fɔʁm\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fondés" or "formes"?
"formes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,626 in our French list, against #17,711 for "fondés". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering fondés vs formes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fondés” 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