Which to use
“débutait” and “doutait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,746
- “débutait” frequency rank
- #19,261
- “doutait” frequency rank
- 61007
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | débutait | doutait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif imparfait de débuter. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de douter. |
Where the eye mixes débutait and doutait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. débutait runs 8 letters (CVCVCVVC) against doutait's 7 (CVVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between débutait and doutait
A purely visual mix-up. débutait (\de.by.tɛ\) and doutait (\du.tɛ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61007, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
débutait is recorded at frequency rank #41,746, classified as averb, pronounced \de.by.tɛ\. doutait is at rank #19,261, tagged as averb, pronounced \du.tɛ\.
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 61007, this pair ranks #94,563 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of débutait vs doutait
Shared letters: aditu. Private to "débutait": bé. Private to "doutait": o.
"débutait" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC · "doutait" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- doutait ← ddoutait · dotuait · douatit · doutaitt · doutati · doutiat · douttait · duotait
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "débutait" and "doutait" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "débutait" or "doutait" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "débutait" and "doutait" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "débutait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "doutait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #94,563 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "débutait" and "doutait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "débutait vs débutante". 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 #94,563 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.