Which to use
“fork” is a noun and “forts” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,769
- “fork” frequency rank
- #3,075
- “forts” frequency rank
- 49844
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fork | forts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Appel système du système UNIX qui duplique un processus existant. | Masculin pluriel de fort |
Where the eye mixes fork and forts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: fork vs forts
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fork is \fɔʁk\ while forts is \fɔʁ\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49844, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fork is recorded at frequency rank #46,769, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɔʁk\. forts is at rank #3,075, tagged as anadj, pronounced \fɔʁ\.
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 49844, this pair ranks #167,451 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fork vs forts
Shared letters: for. Private to "fork": k. Private to "forts": st.
"fork" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "forts" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fork" for "forts" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fork" vs "forts" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fork" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "forts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #167,451 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fork" and "forts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fork vs FPR". 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 #167,451 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.