fondésvsfoulesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,711
“fondés” frequency rank
#13,599
“foules” frequency rank
31310
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fondés foules
Definition Pluriel de fondé. Pluriel de foule.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
fondés
6 ch
foules

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. fondés (\fɔ̃.de\) and foules (\ful\) 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 31310, 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\. foules is at rank #13,599, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ful\.

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 31310, this pair ranks #304,587 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fondés vs foules

Shared letters: fos. Private to "fondés": dné. Private to "foules": elu.

"fondés" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "foules" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • foulesffoules · folues · fouels · fouless · foulles · foulse · fuoles · ofules

Frequency comparison

fondés#17,711
foules#13,599

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fondés" and "foules" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\fɔ̃.de\ versus \ful\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fondés" or "foules"?
"foules" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,599 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 fondés vs foules

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