bâtirvsbâtitWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“bâtir” and “bâtit” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#7,157
“bâtir” frequency rank
#28,084
“bâtit” frequency rank
35241
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bâtir bâtit
Definition Agencer, disposer les pièces d’un vêtement en les faufilant, en les assemblant avec de grands points d’aiguille avant de les coudre tout à fait. Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de bâtir.

Where the eye mixes bâtir and bâtit

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
bâtir
5 ch
bâtit

Look-alike desk: bâtir vs bâtit

A purely visual mix-up. bâtir (\ba.tiʁ\) and bâtit (\bɑ.ti\) 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 a single letter - r in “bâtir” becomes t in “bâtit”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35241, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bâtir is recorded at frequency rank #7,157, classified as averb, pronounced \ba.tiʁ\. bâtit is at rank #28,084, tagged as averb, pronounced \bɑ.ti\.

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 35241, this pair ranks #278,151 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bâtir vs bâtit

Shared letters: bitâ. Private to "bâtir": r. Private to "bâtit": -.

"bâtir" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "bâtit" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "bâtir" and "bâtit" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ba.tiʁ\ versus \bɑ.ti\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bâtir" or "bâtit"?
"bâtir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,157 in our French list, against #28,084 for "bâtit". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "bâtir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bâtit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #278,151 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bâtir" and "bâtit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bâtit vs Butt". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #278,151 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list