Which to use
“fontes” and “formes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,178
- “fontes” frequency rank
- #1,626
- “formes” frequency rank
- 47804
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fontes | formes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fourreau de cuir pour les pistolets. | Pluriel de forme. |
Where the eye mixes fontes and formes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: fontes vs formes
A purely visual mix-up. fontes (\fɔ̃t\) and formes (\fɔʁm\) 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 47804, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fontes is recorded at frequency rank #46,178, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɔ̃t\. formes is at rank #1,626, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɔʁm\.
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 47804, this pair ranks #184,010 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fontes vs formes
Shared letters: efos. Private to "fontes": nt. Private to "formes": mr.
"fontes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "formes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fontes" and "formes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "fontes" vs "formes" - which ranks higher?
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 "fontes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "formes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #184,010 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fontes" and "formes" 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 #184,010 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.