Which to use
“fondues” is a noun and “fondus” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #45,619
- “fondues” frequency rank
- #31,499
- “fondus” frequency rank
- 77118
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fondues | fondus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de fondue. | Participe passé masculin pluriel du verbe fondre. |
Same sound, different letters: fondues vs fondus
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. fondues runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against fondus's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - fondues and fondus
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: fondues and fondus carry the same recorded pronunciation, \fɔ̃.dy\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77118, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fondues is recorded at frequency rank #45,619, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɔ̃.dy\. fondus is at rank #31,499, tagged as averb, pronounced \fɔ̃.dy\.
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 77118, this pair ranks #29,259 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fondues vs fondus
Shared letters: dfnosu. Private to "fondues": e. Private to "fondus": -.
"fondues" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "fondus" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fondues" and "fondus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "fondues" or "fondus"?
What to do next
You've separated the homophone pair "fondues" / "fondus". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "fondues" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fondus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #29,259 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fondues" and "fondus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fondeurs vs fondues". 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 #29,259 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.