Which to use
“fourmi” and “fours” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,019
- “fourmi” frequency rank
- #13,175
- “fours” frequency rank
- 34194
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fourmi | fours |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Pluriel de four. |
Where the eye mixes fourmi and fours
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fourmi runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against fours's 5 (CVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses fourmi with fours
A purely visual mix-up. fourmi (\fuʁ.mi\) and fours (\fuʁ\) 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 34194, 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\. fours is at rank #13,175, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fuʁ\.
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 34194, this pair ranks #285,511 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fourmi vs fours
Shared letters: foru. Private to "fourmi": im. Private to "fours": s.
"fourmi" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "fours" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fourmi" and "fours" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "fourmi" vs "fours" - which ranks higher?
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 "fours" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #285,511 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fourmi" and "fours" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fouets vs fours". 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 #285,511 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.