Which to use
“fosses” and “frises” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,882
- “fosses” frequency rank
- #46,777
- “frises” frequency rank
- 63659
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fosses | frises |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de fosse. | Pluriel de frise. |
Where the eye mixes fosses and frises
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fosses (CVCCVC) and frises (CCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between fosses and frises
A purely visual mix-up. fosses (\fos\) and frises (\fʁiz\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63659, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fosses is recorded at frequency rank #16,882, classified as anoun, pronounced \fos\. frises is at rank #46,777, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fʁiz\.
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 63659, this pair ranks #80,838 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fosses vs frises
Shared letters: efs. Private to "fosses": o. Private to "frises": ir.
"fosses" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "frises" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fosses" and "frises" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "fosses" or "frises"?
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 "fosses" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "frises" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #80,838 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fosses" and "frises" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "foies vs frises". 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 #80,838 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.