Which to use
“début” is a noun and “débute” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #335
- “début” frequency rank
- #6,188
- “débute” frequency rank
- 6523
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | début | débute |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Commencement. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de débuter. |
Where the eye mixes début and débute
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: début vs débute
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: début is \de.by\ while débute is \de.byt\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “début” sits inside “débute”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6523, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
début is recorded at frequency rank #335, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.by\. 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 6523, this pair ranks #426,002 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of début vs débute
Shared letters: bdtué. Private to "début": -. Private to "débute": e.
"début" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "débute" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "début" and "débute" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "début" vs "débute" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "début" and "débute" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "début" 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 #426,002 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "début" and "débute" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "débute vs déduite". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #426,002 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.