Which to use
“débité” and “débute” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,236
- “débité” frequency rank
- #6,188
- “débute” frequency rank
- 47424
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | débité | débute |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe passé masculin singulier de débiter. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de débuter. |
Where the eye mixes débité and débute
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. débité and débute follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses débité with débute
A purely visual mix-up. débité (\de.bi.te\) and débute (\de.byt\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47424, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
débité is recorded at frequency rank #41,236, classified as averb, pronounced \de.bi.te\. débute is at rank #6,188, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.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 47424, this pair ranks #187,071 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of débité vs débute
Shared letters: bdté. Private to "débité": i. Private to "débute": eu.
"débité" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "débute" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "débité" for "débute" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "débité" or "débute" 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 "débité" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "débute" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #187,071 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "débité" and "débute" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "débité vs déduite". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #187,071 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.