bêtes vs buts, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#5,638
“bêtes” frequency rank: #1,471
“buts” frequency rank: 7109
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	bêtes	buts
Definition	Pluriel de bête.	Pluriel de but.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set bêtes and buts apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

bêtes

4 ch

buts

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. bêtes (\bɛt\) and buts (\byt\) 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 7109, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bêtes is recorded at frequency rank #5,638, classified as anoun, pronounced \bɛt\. buts is at rank #1,471, tagged as anoun, pronounced \byt\.

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 7109, this pair ranks #424,209 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bêtes vs buts

Shared letters: bst. Private to "bêtes": eê. Private to "buts": u.

"bêtes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "buts" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

buts ← bbuts · btus · bust · butss · butts · ubts

Frequency comparison

bêtes#5,638

buts#1,471

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bêtes" and "buts" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (\bɛt\ versus \byt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "bêtes" or "buts"?

"buts" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,471 in our French list, against #5,638 for "bêtes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering bêtes vs buts

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “bêtes” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable