Which to use
“fourmis” and “fours” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,162
- “fourmis” frequency rank
- #13,175
- “fours” frequency rank
- 25337
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fourmis | fours |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de fourmi. | Pluriel de four. |
Where the eye mixes fourmis and fours
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fourmis runs 7 letters (CVVCCVC) 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 fourmis with fours
A purely visual mix-up. fourmis (\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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25337, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fourmis is recorded at frequency rank #12,162, 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 25337, this pair ranks #341,433 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fourmis vs fours
Shared letters: forsu. Private to "fourmis": im. Private to "fours": -.
"fourmis" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "fours" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fourmis" and "fours" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "fourmis" vs "fours" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fourmis" 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 #341,433 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fourmis" 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 #341,433 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.