cauxvschutTell them apart

Quick tell: caux is a noun, chut is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“caux” is a noun and “chut” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,692
“caux” frequency rank
#12,739
“chut” frequency rank
51431
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caux chut
Definition Mélange de choux, de navets et de pommes que l’on donne aux vaches et aux cochons. Interjection dont on se sert pour avertir ou ordonner de faire silence.

Where the eye mixes caux and chut

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. caux (CVVC) and chut (CCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
caux
4 ch
chut

Visual trap between caux and chut

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: caux is \ko\ while chut is \ʃyt\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51431, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caux is recorded at frequency rank #38,692, classified as anoun, pronounced \ko\. chut is at rank #12,739, tagged as anintj, pronounced \ʃyt\.

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 51431, this pair ranks #155,046 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of caux vs chut

Shared letters: cu. Private to "caux": ax. Private to "chut": ht.

"caux" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "chut" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cauxacux · cauxx · caxu · ccaux · cuax
  • chutcchut · chhut · chtu · chutt · cuht · hcut

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "caux" for "chut" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "caux" is a noun and "chut" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "caux" or "chut"?
"chut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,739 in our French list, against #38,692 for "caux". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "caux" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "chut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #155,046 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "caux" and "chut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "casus vs caux". 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 #155,046 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list