Which to use
“forces” and “foules” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #921
- “forces” frequency rank
- #13,599
- “foules” frequency rank
- 14520
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | forces | foules |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Sorte de grands ciseaux dont les lames sont réunies par un arc d’acier élastique les maintenant ouvertes, et qui servaient à couper des étoffes, à les tailler, à couper des feuilles de laiton, de fer-blanc, à tondre la laine des moutons, etc. | Pluriel de foule. |
Where the eye mixes forces and foules
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. forces (CVCCVC) and foules (CVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between forces and foules
A purely visual mix-up. forces (\fɔʁs\) and foules (\ful\) 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 14520, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
forces is recorded at frequency rank #921, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɔʁs\. foules is at rank #13,599, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ful\.
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 14520, this pair ranks #396,314 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of forces vs foules
Shared letters: efos. Private to "forces": cr. Private to "foules": lu.
"forces" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "foules" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "forces" for "foules" ever safe?
Which is more common, "forces" or "foules"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "forces" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "foules" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #396,314 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "forces" and "foules" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fouets vs foules". 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 #396,314 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.