foudresvsfoulesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#23,217
“foudres” frequency rank
#13,599
“foules” frequency rank
36816
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature foudres foules
Definition Pluriel de foudre. Pluriel de foule.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set foudres and foules apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
foudres
6 ch
foules

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. foudres (\fudʁ\) and foules (\ful\) 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 36816, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

foudres is recorded at frequency rank #23,217, classified as anoun, pronounced \fudʁ\. foules is at rank #13,599, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ful\.

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 36816, this pair ranks #266,939 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of foudres vs foules

Shared letters: efosu. Private to "foudres": dr. Private to "foules": l.

"foudres" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "foules" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • foudresffoudres · fodures · fouddres · fouders · foudress · foudrres · foudrse · fourdes
  • foulesffoules · folues · fouels · fouless · foulles · foulse · fuoles · ofules

Frequency comparison

foudres#23,217
foules#13,599

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "foudres" and "foules" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\fudʁ\ versus \ful\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "foudres" or "foules"?
"foules" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,599 in our French list, against #23,217 for "foudres". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering foudres vs foules

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “foudres” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list