Which to use
“fête” and “fût” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #943
- “fête” frequency rank
- #7,062
- “fût” frequency rank
- 8005
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fête | fût |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Jour consacré particulièrement à des actes de religion, cérémonies religieuses par lesquelles on célèbre ce jour. | Bois sur lequel est monté le canon d’un fusil, d’une arquebuse, d’un pistolet, etc. |
Where the eye mixes fête and fût
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between fête and fût
A purely visual mix-up. fête (\fɛt\) and fût (\fy\) 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 8005, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fête is recorded at frequency rank #943, classified as anoun, pronounced \fɛt\. fût is at rank #7,062, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fy\.
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 8005, this pair ranks #421,430 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fête vs fût
Shared letters: ft. Private to "fête": eê. Private to "fût": û.
"fête" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "fût" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fête" for "fût" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "fête" or "fût" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fête" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fût" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #421,430 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fête" and "fût" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Fee vs fût". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #421,430 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.