cettevscuteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: cette is a determiner, cute is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cette” is a determiner and “cute” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#55
“cette” frequency rank
#23,165
“cute” frequency rank
23220
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cette cute
Definition Féminin singulier du déterminant démonstratif ce. Mignon.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
cette
4 ch
cute

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

cette and cute form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23220, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cette is recorded at frequency rank #55, classified as adet, pronounced \sɛt\. cute is at rank #23,165, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kjut\.

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 23220, this pair ranks #353,734 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

cette#55
cute#23,165

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cette" and "cute" be used interchangeably?
No, "cette" and "cute" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering cette vs cute

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a determiner, it's “cette”; for an adjective, it's “cute”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cette” 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