forméevsformesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: formée is a verb, formes is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“formée” is a verb and “formes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,959
“formée” frequency rank
#1,626
“formes” frequency rank
8585
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature formée formes
Definition Participe passé féminin singulier de former. Pluriel de forme.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set formée and formes apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
formée
6 ch
formes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: formée is \fɔʁ.me\ while formes is \fɔʁm\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8585, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

formée is recorded at frequency rank #6,959, classified as averb, pronounced \fɔʁ.me\. formes is at rank #1,626, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɔʁm\.

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 8585, this pair ranks #419,533 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of formée vs formes

Shared letters: efmor. Private to "formée": é. Private to "formes": s.

"formée" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "formes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • formesfformes · fomres · forems · formess · formmes · formse · forrmes · fromes

Frequency comparison

formée#6,959
formes#1,626

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "formée" and "formes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "formée" is a verb and "formes" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "formée" or "formes"?
"formes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,626 in our French list, against #6,959 for "formée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering formée vs formes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “formée”; for a noun, it's “formes”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “formée” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list