Which to use
“foute” and “foutre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,598
- “foute” frequency rank
- #1,867
- “foutre” frequency rank
- 26465
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | foute | foutre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de foutre. | Baiser ; posséder sexuellement. |
Where the eye mixes foute and foutre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. foute runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against foutre's 6 (CVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between foute and foutre
A purely visual mix-up. foute (\fut\) and foutre (\futʁ\) 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 26465, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
foute is recorded at frequency rank #24,598, classified as averb, pronounced \fut\. foutre is at rank #1,867, tagged as averb, pronounced \futʁ\.
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 26465, this pair ranks #334,832 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of foute vs foutre
Shared letters: efotu. Private to "foute": -. Private to "foutre": r.
"foute" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "foutre" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "foute" for "foutre" ever safe?
Frequency check: "foute" vs "foutre" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "foute" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "foutre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #334,832 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "foute" and "foutre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fouets vs foute". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #334,832 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.