formes vs fortis, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#1,626
“formes” frequency rank: #46,179
“fortis” frequency rank: 47805
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	formes	fortis
Definition	Pluriel de forme.	Fort, robuste, solide, vigoureux, bien portant.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set formes and fortis apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

formes

6 ch

fortis

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: formes is anoun and fortisanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47805, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

formes is recorded at frequency rank #1,626, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɔʁm\. fortis is at rank #46,179, tagged as anadj.

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 47805, this pair ranks #184,004 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of formes vs fortis

Shared letters: fors. Private to "formes": em. Private to "fortis": it.

"formes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "fortis" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

formes ← fformes · fomres · forems · formess · formmes · formse · forrmes · fromes
fortis ← ffortis · forits · forrtis · fortiss · fortsi · fotris · ofrtis

Frequency comparison

formes#1,626

fortis#46,179

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "formes" and "fortis" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "formes" is a noun and "fortis" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "formes" or "fortis"?

"formes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,626 in our French list, against #46,179 for "fortis". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering formes vs fortis

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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