feutrevsfouteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: feutre is a noun, foute is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“feutre” is a noun and “foute” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,591
“feutre” frequency rank
#24,598
“foute” frequency rank
49189
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature feutre foute
Definition Étoffe non tissée constituée de poils ou de fibres de laine agglomérées ensemble par soufflage, et mise sous pression avec ébouillantage dans la forme, ou, en fabrication traditionnelle mongole par mouillage et foulage. Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de foutre.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set feutre and foute apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
feutre
5 ch
foute

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: feutre is \føtʁ\ while foute is \fut\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49189, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

feutre is recorded at frequency rank #24,591, classified as anoun, pronounced \føtʁ\. foute is at rank #24,598, tagged as averb, pronounced \fut\.

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 49189, this pair ranks #172,713 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of feutre vs foute

Shared letters: eftu. Private to "feutre": r. Private to "foute": o.

"feutre" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "foute" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • feutreefutre · feture · feurte · feuter · feutrre · feuttre · ffeutre · fuetre
  • fouteffoute · fotue · foutte · fuote · ofute

Frequency comparison

feutre#24,591
foute#24,598

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "feutre" and "foute" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "feutre" is a noun and "foute" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "feutre" or "foute"?
"feutre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,591 in our French list, against #24,598 for "foute". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering feutre vs foute

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “feutre”; for a verb, it's “foute”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “feutre” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list