Which to use
“beau” is an adjective and “beauté” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #446
- “beau” frequency rank
- #1,469
- “beauté” frequency rank
- 1915
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | beau | beauté |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | D’aspect agréable à l’œil ou à l’oreille. | Qualité de ce qui est beau, de ce qui est esthétique à la perception. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set beau and beauté apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: beau is \bo\ while beauté is \bo.te\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “beau” sits inside “beauté”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1915, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
beau is recorded at frequency rank #446, classified as anadj, pronounced \bo\. beauté is at rank #1,469, tagged as anoun, pronounced \bo.te\.
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 1915, this pair ranks #437,135 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of beau vs beauté
Shared letters: abeu. Private to "beau": -. Private to "beauté": té.
"beau" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "beauté" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- beau ← baeu · bbeau · beua · ebau
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "beau" and "beauté" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "beau" or "beauté"?
Remembering beau vs beauté
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “beau”; for a noun, it's “beauté”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “beau” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable