Which to use
“formel” is an adjective and “formez” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,042
- “formel” frequency rank
- #30,614
- “formez” frequency rank
- 44656
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | formel | formez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui existe de façon déterminée. | Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de former. |
Where the eye mixes formel and formez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. formel and formez follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between formel and formez
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: formel is \fɔʁ.mɛl\ while formez is \fɔʁ.me\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - l in “formel” becomes z in “formez”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44656, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
formel is recorded at frequency rank #14,042, classified as anadj, pronounced \fɔʁ.mɛl\. formez is at rank #30,614, tagged as averb, pronounced \fɔʁ.me\.
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 44656, this pair ranks #208,804 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of formel vs formez
Shared letters: efmor. Private to "formel": l. Private to "formez": z.
"formel" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "formez" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "formel" and "formez" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "formel" or "formez"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "formel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "formez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #208,804 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "formel" and "formez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "forman vs formez". 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 #208,804 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.