Which to use
“forer” and “foster” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,346
- “forer” frequency rank
- #17,141
- “foster” frequency rank
- 59487
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | forer | foster |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Creuser un orifice dans une matière rigide. | Alimenter, nourrir. |
Where the eye mixes forer and foster
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. forer runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against foster's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between forer and foster
A purely visual mix-up. forer (\fɔ.ʁe\) and foster (\ˈfɒs.tə\) 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 59487, 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\. foster is at rank #17,141, tagged as averb, pronounced \ˈfɒs.tə\.
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 59487, this pair ranks #102,854 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of forer vs foster
Shared letters: efor. Private to "forer": -. Private to "foster": st.
"forer" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "foster" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "forer" and "foster" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "forer" or "foster"?
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 "forer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "foster" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #102,854 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "forer" and "foster" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "foies vs forer". 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 #102,854 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.