Which to use
“foreign” is an adjective and “fortin” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,945
- “foreign” frequency rank
- #20,147
- “fortin” frequency rank
- 42092
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | foreign | fortin |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Étranger. | Petit fort. |
Where the eye mixes foreign and fortin
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: foreign vs fortin
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: foreign is \ˈfɔɹ.ən\ while fortin is \fɔʁ.tɛ̃\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42092, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
foreign is recorded at frequency rank #21,945, classified as anadj, pronounced \ˈfɔɹ.ən\. fortin is at rank #20,147, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɔʁ.tɛ̃\.
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 42092, this pair ranks #228,278 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of foreign vs fortin
Shared letters: finor. Private to "foreign": eg. Private to "fortin": t.
"foreign" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC · "fortin" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "foreign" for "fortin" ever safe?
Frequency check: "foreign" vs "fortin" - which ranks higher?
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 "foreign" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fortin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #228,278 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "foreign" and "fortin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "forman vs fortin". 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 #228,278 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.