fortesvsfortunésWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,927
“fortes” frequency rank
#23,216
“fortunés” frequency rank
26143
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fortes fortunés
Definition Féminin pluriel de fort. Masculin pluriel de fortuné.

Where the eye mixes fortes and fortunés

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fortes runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against fortunés's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
fortes
8 ch
fortunés

Visual trap between fortes and fortunés

A purely visual mix-up. fortes (\fɔʁt\) and fortunés (\fɔʁ.ty.ne\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26143, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fortes is recorded at frequency rank #2,927, classified as anadj, pronounced \fɔʁt\. fortunés is at rank #23,216, tagged as anadj, pronounced \fɔʁ.ty.ne\.

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 26143, this pair ranks #336,871 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fortes vs fortunés

Shared letters: forst. Private to "fortes": e. Private to "fortunés": nué.

"fortes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "fortunés" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fortes ← ffortes · forrtes · fortess · fortse · forttes · fotres · frotes · ofrtes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fortes" and "fortunés" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\fɔʁt\ versus \fɔʁ.ty.ne\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "fortes" vs "fortunés" - which ranks higher?
"fortes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,927 in our French list, against #23,216 for "fortunés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "fortes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fortunés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #336,871 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fortes" and "fortunés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fortunée vs fortunés". 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 #336,871 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