Which to use
“forma” is a verb and “formats” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,654
- “forma” frequency rank
- #12,576
- “formats” frequency rank
- 38230
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | forma | formats |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de former. | Pluriel de format. |
Same sound, different letters: forma vs formats
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters.
Homophone desk: forma vs formats
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: forma and formats carry the same recorded pronunciation, \fɔʁ.ma\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “forma” sits inside “formats”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38230, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
forma is recorded at frequency rank #25,654, classified as averb, pronounced \fɔʁ.ma\. formats is at rank #12,576, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɔʁ.ma\.
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 38230, this pair ranks #256,747 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of forma vs formats
Shared letters: afmor. Private to "forma": -. Private to "formats": st.
"forma" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "formats" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "forma" for "formats" ever safe?
Frequency check: "forma" vs "formats" - which ranks higher?
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 "forma" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "formats" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #256,747 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "forma" and "formats" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "forma vs formaté". 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 #256,747 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.