débutevsdébuteraWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“débute” and “débutera” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#6,188
“débute” frequency rank
#23,521
“débutera” frequency rank
29709
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature débute débutera
Definition Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de débuter. Troisième personne du singulier du futur de débuter.

Where the eye mixes débute and débutera

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. débute runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against débutera's 8 (CVCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
débute
8 ch
débutera

Visual trap between débute and débutera

A purely visual mix-up. débute (\de.byt\) and débutera (\de.by.tə.ʁa\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “débute” sits inside “débutera”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29709, 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\. débutera is at rank #23,521, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.by.tə.ʁa\.

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 29709, this pair ranks #314,976 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of débute vs débutera

Shared letters: bdetué. Private to "débute": -. Private to "débutera": ar.

"débute" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "débutera" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "débute" for "débutera" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\de.byt\ versus \de.by.tə.ʁa\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "débute" or "débutera"?
"débute" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,188 in our French list, against #23,521 for "débutera". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "débute" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "débutera" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #314,976 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "débute" and "débutera" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "débutée vs débutera". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #314,976 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list