Which to use
“fonds” and “fonte” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,062
- “fonds” frequency rank
- #8,855
- “fonte” frequency rank
- 9917
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fonds | fonte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ensemble de biens matériels ou immatériels servant à l’usage principal d’une activité. | Action de fondre, ou de se fondre, de se liquéfier. |
Where the eye mixes fonds and fonte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses fonds with fonte
A purely visual mix-up. fonds (\fɔ̃\) and fonte (\fɔ̃t\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9917, 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\. fonte is at rank #8,855, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɔ̃t\.
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 9917, this pair ranks #414,940 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fonds vs fonte
Shared letters: fno. Private to "fonds": ds. Private to "fonte": et.
"fonds" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "fonte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fonds" and "fonte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "fonds" or "fonte"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fonds" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fonte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #414,940 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fonds" and "fonte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fonte vs fronce". 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 #414,940 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.