fondsvsfonsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,062
“fonds” frequency rank
#43,445
“fons” frequency rank
44507
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fonds fons
Definition Ensemble de biens matériels ou immatériels servant à l’usage principal d’une activité. Fonds (patrimoine).

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fonds and fons apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
fonds
4 ch
fons

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

fonds and fons are indexed as a confusable French pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44507, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fonds is recorded at frequency rank #1,062, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɔ̃\. fons is at rank #43,445, tagged as anoun.

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 44507, this pair ranks #209,975 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fonds vs fons

Shared letters: fnos. Private to "fonds": d. Private to "fons": -.

"fonds" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "fons" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fondsffonds · fnods · fodns · fondds · fondss · fonnds · fonsd · ofnds
  • fonsffons · fnos · fonns · fonss · fosn · ofns

Frequency comparison

fonds#1,062
fons#43,445

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fonds" and "fons" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "fonds" or "fons"?
"fonds" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,062 in our French list, against #43,445 for "fons". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering fonds vs fons

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 “fonds” 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