Which to use
“fontaines” and “foutaises” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,263
- “fontaines” frequency rank
- #36,851
- “foutaises” frequency rank
- 51114
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fontaines | foutaises |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de fontaine. | Pluriel de foutaise. |
Where the eye mixes fontaines and foutaises
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. fontaines (CVCCVVCVC) and foutaises (CVVCVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between fontaines and foutaises
A purely visual mix-up. fontaines (\fɔ̃.tɛn\) and foutaises (\fu.tɛz\) 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 51114, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fontaines is recorded at frequency rank #14,263, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɔ̃.tɛn\. foutaises is at rank #36,851, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fu.tɛz\.
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 51114, this pair ranks #157,476 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fontaines vs foutaises
Shared letters: aefiost. Private to "fontaines": n. Private to "foutaises": u.
"fontaines" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC · "foutaises" · 9 letters · shape CVVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fontaines" for "foutaises" ever safe?
Which is more common, "fontaines" or "foutaises"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fontaines" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "foutaises" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #157,476 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fontaines" and "foutaises" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "foutaise vs foutaises". 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 #157,476 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.