Which to use
“débité” is a verb and “débuts” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,236
- “débité” frequency rank
- #4,144
- “débuts” frequency rank
- 45380
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | débité | débuts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe passé masculin singulier de débiter. | Pluriel de début. |
Where the eye mixes débité and débuts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. débité (CVCVCV) and débuts (CVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between débité and débuts
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: débité is \de.bi.te\ while débuts is \de.by\. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45380, 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\. débuts is at rank #4,144, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.by\.
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 45380, this pair ranks #203,135 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of débité vs débuts
Shared letters: bdté. Private to "débité": i. Private to "débuts": su.
"débité" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "débuts" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "débité" and "débuts" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "débité" or "débuts" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "débité" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "débuts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #203,135 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "débité" and "débuts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "débité vs déduite". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #203,135 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.