Which to use
“fouets” and “foules” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,094
- “fouets” frequency rank
- #13,599
- “foules” frequency rank
- 62693
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fouets | foules |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de fouet. | Pluriel de foule. |
Where the eye mixes fouets and foules
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fouets (CVVVCC) and foules (CVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses fouets with foules
A purely visual mix-up. fouets (\fwɛ\) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62693, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fouets is recorded at frequency rank #49,094, classified as anoun, pronounced \fwɛ\. 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 62693, this pair ranks #85,824 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fouets vs foules
Shared letters: efosu. Private to "fouets": t. Private to "foules": l.
"fouets" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCC · "foules" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fouets" and "foules" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "fouets" or "foules"?
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 "fouets" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "foules" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #85,824 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fouets" and "foules" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "foies vs fouets". 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 #85,824 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.