Which to use
“forces” and “fourches” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #921
- “forces” frequency rank
- #30,163
- “fourches” frequency rank
- 31084
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | forces | fourches |
|---|---|---|
| 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 fourche. |
Where the eye mixes forces and fourches
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between forces and fourches
A purely visual mix-up. forces (\fɔʁs\) and fourches (\fuʁʃ\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31084, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
forces is recorded at frequency rank #921, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɔʁs\. fourches is at rank #30,163, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fuʁʃ\.
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 31084, this pair ranks #306,088 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of forces vs fourches
Shared letters: cefors. Private to "forces": -. Private to "fourches": hu.
"forces" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "fourches" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "forces" for "fourches" ever safe?
Which is more common, "forces" or "fourches"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "forces" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fourches" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #306,088 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "forces" and "fourches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fourches vs fourrés". 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 #306,088 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.