Which to use
“fougère” and “foulée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,847
- “fougère” frequency rank
- #10,504
- “foulée” frequency rank
- 47351
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fougère | foulée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Plante aux grandes feuilles, dont les très nombreuses espèces constituent la classe des filicinées, la plus importante classe des cryptogames vasculaires. | Temps pendant lequel, dans la marche, le pied du cheval pose sur le sol. |
Where the eye mixes fougère and foulée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fougère runs 7 letters (CVVCVCV) against foulée's 6 (CVVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: fougère vs foulée
A purely visual mix-up. fougère (\fu.ʒɛʁ\) and foulée (\fu.le\) 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 47351, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fougère is recorded at frequency rank #36,847, classified as anoun, pronounced \fu.ʒɛʁ\. foulée is at rank #10,504, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fu.le\.
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 47351, this pair ranks #187,665 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fougère vs foulée
Shared letters: efou. Private to "fougère": grè. Private to "foulée": lé.
"fougère" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV · "foulée" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fougère" for "foulée" ever safe?
Which is more common, "fougère" or "foulée"?
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 "fougère" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "foulée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #187,665 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fougère" and "foulée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "forgée vs fougère". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #187,665 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.