Which to use
“débute” and “débutée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,188
- “débute” frequency rank
- #41,237
- “débutée” frequency rank
- 47425
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | débute | débutée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de débuter. | Participe passé féminin singulier de débuter. |
Where the eye mixes débute and débutée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. débute runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against débutée's 7 (CVCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses débute with débutée
A purely visual mix-up. débute (\de.byt\) and débutée (\de.by.te\) 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 47425, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
débute is recorded at frequency rank #6,188, classified as averb, pronounced \de.byt\. débutée is at rank #41,237, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.by.te\.
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 47425, this pair ranks #187,061 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of débute vs débutée
Shared letters: bdetué. Private to "débute": -. Private to "débutée": -.
"débute" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "débutée" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "débute" and "débutée" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "débute" or "débutée" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "débute" and "débutée" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "débute" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "débutée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #187,061 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "débute" and "débutée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "débutée vs dénudée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #187,061 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.