Which to use
“but” and “butin” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #423
- “but” frequency rank
- #12,732
- “butin” frequency rank
- 13155
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | but | butin |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Objectif, cible. | Ce que l’on prend sur les ennemis. |
Where the eye mixes but and butin
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses but with butin
A purely visual mix-up. but (\byt\) and butin (\by.tɛ̃\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “but” sits inside “butin”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13155, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
but is recorded at frequency rank #423, classified as anoun, pronounced \byt\. butin is at rank #12,732, tagged as anoun, pronounced \by.tɛ̃\.
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 13155, this pair ranks #402,203 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of but vs butin
Shared letters: btu. Private to "but": -. Private to "butin": in.
"but" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "butin" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- butin ← bbutin · btuin · buitn · butinn · butni · buttin · ubtin
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "but" for "butin" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "but" or "butin" show up more?
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 "but" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "butin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #402,203 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "but" and "butin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "beton vs butin". 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 #402,203 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.