Which to use
“forme” and “fourmi” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #371
- “forme” frequency rank
- #21,019
- “fourmi” frequency rank
- 21390
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | forme | fourmi |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Aspect extérieur, configuration caractéristique ou particulière d’une chose. | Petit insecte social sans ailes (sauf individus sexués), vivant en colonies dans des fourmilières. C’est un hyménoptère qui possède en particulier des antennes coudées et un pétiole. |
Where the eye mixes forme and fourmi
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: forme vs fourmi
A purely visual mix-up. forme (\fɔʁm\) and fourmi (\fuʁ.mi\) 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 21390, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
forme is recorded at frequency rank #371, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɔʁm\. fourmi is at rank #21,019, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fuʁ.mi\.
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 21390, this pair ranks #363,400 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of forme vs fourmi
Shared letters: fmor. Private to "forme": e. Private to "fourmi": iu.
"forme" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "fourmi" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "forme" and "fourmi" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "forme" or "fourmi"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "forme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fourmi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #363,400 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "forme" and "fourmi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "formaté vs forme". 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 #363,400 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.