Which to use
“forêt” and “forets” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,078
- “forêt” frequency rank
- #42,347
- “forets” frequency rank
- 44425
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | forêt | forets |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Vaste terrain couvert de bois, de nombreux arbres proches. | Pluriel de foret. |
Same sound, different letters: forêt vs forets
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters.
Ear matches; page differs - forêt and forets
This is the hard kind. forêt and forets are pronounced identically (\fɔ.ʁɛ\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44425, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
forêt is recorded at frequency rank #2,078, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɔ.ʁɛ\. forets is at rank #42,347, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɔ.ʁɛ\.
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 44425, this pair ranks #210,576 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of forêt vs forets
Shared letters: fort. Private to "forêt": ê. Private to "forets": es.
"forêt" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "forets" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- forets ← fforets · foerts · foretss · foretts · froets · ofrets
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "forêt" and "forets" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "forêt" or "forets" show up more?
Useful next steps
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "forêt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "forets" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #210,576 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "forêt" and "forets" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "forets vs fouets". 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 #210,576 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.