Which to use
“forain” and “frais” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,770
- “forain” frequency rank
- #899
- “frais” frequency rank
- 41669
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | forain | frais |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui n’est pas du lieu, étranger. | Indique un état de fraîcheur, de bonne conservation. |
Where the eye mixes forain and frais
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between forain and frais
A purely visual mix-up. forain (\fɔ.ʁɛ̃\) and frais (\fʁɛ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41669, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
forain is recorded at frequency rank #40,770, classified as anadj, pronounced \fɔ.ʁɛ̃\. frais is at rank #899, tagged as anadj, pronounced \fʁɛ\.
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 41669, this pair ranks #231,365 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of forain vs frais
Shared letters: afir. Private to "forain": no. Private to "frais": s.
"forain" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "frais" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "forain" for "frais" ever safe?
Frequency check: "forain" vs "frais" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "forain" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "frais" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #231,365 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "forain" and "frais" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "forain vs forman". 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 #231,365 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.