bravsbrutWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: bra is a noun, brut is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“bra” is a noun and “brut” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#43,814
“bra” frequency rank
#4,835
“brut” frequency rank
48649
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bra brut
Definition Soutien-gorge. Qui est dans l’état grossier où la nature l’a produit.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set bra and brut apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
bra
4 ch
brut

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bra is \ˈbɹɑ\ while brut is \bʁyt\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48649, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bra is recorded at frequency rank #43,814, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈbɹɑ\. brut is at rank #4,835, tagged as anadj, pronounced \bʁyt\.

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 48649, this pair ranks #177,141 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bra vs brut

Shared letters: br. Private to "bra": a. Private to "brut": tu.

"bra" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "brut" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • brutbbrut · brrut · brtu · brutt · rbut

Frequency comparison

bra#43,814
brut#4,835

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bra" and "brut" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bra" is a noun and "brut" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "bra" or "brut"?
"brut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,835 in our French list, against #43,814 for "bra". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering bra vs brut

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “bra”; for an adjective, it's “brut”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “bra” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list