Which to use
“étui” and “étuis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,902
- “étui” frequency rank
- #47,703
- “étuis” frequency rank
- 68605
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | étui | étuis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Contenant pour mettre, porter ou conserver un objet, et dont la forme varie selon les objets. | Pluriel de étui. |
Same sound, different letters: étui vs étuis
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters. étui runs 4 letters (VCVV) against étuis's 5 (VCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: étui vs étuis
This is the hard kind. étui and étuis are pronounced identically (\e.tɥi\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “étui” sits inside “étuis”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68605, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
étui is recorded at frequency rank #20,902, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.tɥi\. étuis is at rank #47,703, 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 68605, this pair ranks #58,466 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of étui vs étuis
Shared letters: itué. Private to "étui": -. Private to "étuis": s.
"étui" · 4 letters · shape VCVV · "étuis" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "étui" and "étuis" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "étui" or "étuis"?
After this comparison
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "étui" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étuis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #58,466 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "étui" and "étuis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "étai vs étuis". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #58,466 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.