Which to use
“fourmi” is a noun and “fournis” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,019
- “fourmi” frequency rank
- #7,831
- “fournis” frequency rank
- 28850
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fourmi | fournis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Petit insecte social sans ailes (sauf individus sexués), vivant en colonies dans des fourmilières. C’est un hyménoptère qui possède en particulier des antennes coudées et un pétiole. | Masculin pluriel de fourni. |
Where the eye mixes fourmi and fournis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fourmi runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against fournis's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses fourmi with fournis
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fourmi is \fuʁ.mi\ while fournis is \fuʁ.ni\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28850, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fourmi is recorded at frequency rank #21,019, classified as anoun, pronounced \fuʁ.mi\. fournis is at rank #7,831, tagged as anadj, pronounced \fuʁ.ni\.
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 28850, this pair ranks #320,277 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fourmi vs fournis
Shared letters: fioru. Private to "fourmi": m. Private to "fournis": ns.
"fourmi" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "fournis" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fourmi" for "fournis" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "fourmi" or "fournis" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fourmi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fournis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #320,277 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fourmi" and "fournis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fortis vs fournis". 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 #320,277 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.