Which to use
“fons” is a noun and “fout” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,445
- “fons” frequency rank
- #3,403
- “fout” frequency rank
- 46848
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fons | fout |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fonds (patrimoine). | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de foutre. |
Letter map: fons vs fout
Shared letters muted; letters that set fons and fout apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. fons (CVCC) and fout (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Grammar separator: fons vs fout
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: fons is anoun and foutaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46848, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fons is recorded at frequency rank #43,445, classified as anoun. fout is at rank #3,403, tagged as averb.
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 46848, this pair ranks #191,587 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fons vs fout
Shared letters: fo. Private to "fons": ns. Private to "fout": tu.
"fons" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "fout" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fons" for "fout" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fons" vs "fout" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "fons" and "fout".
- Full dictionary entry for "fons" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fout" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #191,587 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fons" and "fout" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "foins vs fons". 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 #191,587 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.