Which to use
“bit” and “buts” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,817
- “bit” frequency rank
- #1,471
- “buts” frequency rank
- 18288
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bit | buts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Unité de mesure en informatique désignant la quantité élémentaire d’information représentée par un chiffre binaire, et qui ne peut donc prendre que deux valeurs : 0 ou 1. | Pluriel de but. |
Where the eye mixes bit and buts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between bit and buts
A purely visual mix-up. bit (\bit\) 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 18288, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bit is recorded at frequency rank #16,817, classified as anoun, pronounced \bit\. 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 18288, this pair ranks #379,099 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bit vs buts
Shared letters: bt. Private to "bit": i. Private to "buts": su.
"bit" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "buts" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- buts ← bbuts · btus · bust · butss · butts · ubts
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bit" for "buts" ever safe?
Frequency check: "bit" vs "buts" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "buts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #379,099 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bit" and "buts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ber vs bit". 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 #379,099 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.