Which to use
“fontes” is a noun and “foute” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,178
- “fontes” frequency rank
- #24,598
- “foute” frequency rank
- 70776
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fontes | foute |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fourreau de cuir pour les pistolets. | Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de foutre. |
Where the eye mixes fontes and foute
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fontes runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against foute's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses fontes with foute
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fontes is \fɔ̃t\ while foute is \fut\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70776, 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\. foute is at rank #24,598, tagged as averb, pronounced \fut\.
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 70776, this pair ranks #50,073 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fontes vs foute
Shared letters: efot. Private to "fontes": ns. Private to "foute": u.
"fontes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "foute" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fontes" and "foute" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "fontes" vs "foute" - 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 "foute" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #50,073 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fontes" and "foute" 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 #50,073 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.