formesvsfourmisTell them apart

Which to use

“formes” and “fourmis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,626
“formes” frequency rank
#12,162
“fourmis” frequency rank
13788
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature formes fourmis
Definition Pluriel de forme. Pluriel de fourmi.

Where the eye mixes formes and fourmis

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
formes
7 ch
fourmis

Look-alike desk: formes vs fourmis

A purely visual mix-up. formes (\fɔʁm\) and fourmis (\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 13788, 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\. fourmis is at rank #12,162, 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 13788, this pair ranks #399,529 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of formes vs fourmis

Shared letters: fmors. Private to "formes": e. Private to "fourmis": iu.

"formes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "fourmis" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • formesfformes · fomres · forems · formess · formmes · formse · forrmes · fromes
  • fourmisffourmis · forumis · foumris · fourims · fourmiss · fourmmis · fourmsi · fourrmis

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "formes" and "fourmis" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\fɔʁm\ versus \fuʁ.mi\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "formes" vs "fourmis" - which ranks higher?
"formes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,626 in our French list, against #12,162 for "fourmis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "formes" and "fourmis" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "formes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fourmis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #399,529 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "formes" and "fourmis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fortis vs fourmis". 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 #399,529 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list