Which to use
“été” and “étui” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #65
- “été” frequency rank
- #20,902
- “étui” frequency rank
- 20967
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | été | étui |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | La plus chaude des quatre saisons de l’année. Dans l’hémisphère nord, l’été astronomique s’étend du 7 mai au 7 août, le solstice d’été représentant le milieu de l’été. L’été météorologique, qui comprend les mois les plus chauds de l’année, comprend les mois de juin, juillet et août. L’été calendaire français, enfin, s’étend du 21 juin (solstice d’été) au 22 septembre (équinoxe d’automne). Dans l’hémisphère sud, ce découpage correspond à la saison d’hiver. | Contenant pour mettre, porter ou conserver un objet, et dont la forme varie selon les objets. |
Where the eye mixes été and étui
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses été with étui
A purely visual mix-up. été (\e.te\) and étui (\e.tɥi\) 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 20967, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
été is recorded at frequency rank #65, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.te\. étui is at rank #20,902, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.tɥi\.
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 20967, this pair ranks #365,557 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of été vs étui
Shared letters: té. Private to "été": -. Private to "étui": iu.
"été" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "étui" · 4 letters · shape VCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "été" and "étui" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "été" or "étui"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "été" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étui" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #365,557 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "été" and "étui" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "étai vs étui". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #365,557 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.