Which to use
“fonds” and “fontes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,062
- “fonds” frequency rank
- #46,178
- “fontes” frequency rank
- 47240
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fonds | fontes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ensemble de biens matériels ou immatériels servant à l’usage principal d’une activité. | Fourreau de cuir pour les pistolets. |
Where the eye mixes fonds and fontes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fonds runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against fontes's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between fonds and fontes
A purely visual mix-up. fonds (\fɔ̃\) and fontes (\fɔ̃t\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47240, 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\. fontes is at rank #46,178, 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 47240, this pair ranks #188,452 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fonds vs fontes
Shared letters: fnos. Private to "fonds": d. Private to "fontes": et.
"fonds" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "fontes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fonds" and "fontes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "fonds" vs "fontes" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
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 "fontes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #188,452 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fonds" and "fontes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "foies vs fontes". 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 #188,452 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.