forervsfortesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: forer is a verb, fortes is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“forer” is a verb and “fortes” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,346
“forer” frequency rank
#2,927
“fortes” frequency rank
45273
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature forer fortes
Definition Creuser un orifice dans une matière rigide. Féminin pluriel de fort.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set forer and fortes apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
forer
6 ch
fortes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: forer is \fɔ.ʁe\ while fortes is \fɔʁt\. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45273, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

forer is recorded at frequency rank #42,346, classified as averb, pronounced \fɔ.ʁe\. fortes is at rank #2,927, tagged as anadj, pronounced \fɔʁt\.

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 45273, this pair ranks #204,036 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of forer vs fortes

Shared letters: efor. Private to "forer": -. Private to "fortes": st.

"forer" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "fortes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • forerfforer · foerr · forerr · forre · forrer · froer · ofrer
  • fortesffortes · forrtes · fortess · fortse · forttes · fotres · frotes · ofrtes

Frequency comparison

forer#42,346
fortes#2,927

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "forer" and "fortes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "forer" is a verb and "fortes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "forer" or "fortes"?
"fortes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,927 in our French list, against #42,346 for "forer". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering forer vs fortes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “forer”; for an adjective, it's “fortes”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “forer” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list