Which to use
“foute” is a verb and “frotte” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,598
- “foute” frequency rank
- #19,028
- “frotte” frequency rank
- 43626
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | foute | frotte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de foutre. | Crouton de pain frotté avec de l'ail. |
Where the eye mixes foute and frotte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: foute vs frotte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: foute is \fut\ while frotte is \fʁɔt\. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43626, 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\. frotte is at rank #19,028, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fʁɔt\.
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 43626, this pair ranks #216,624 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of foute vs frotte
Shared letters: efot. Private to "foute": u. Private to "frotte": r.
"foute" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "frotte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "foute" for "frotte" ever safe?
Frequency check: "foute" vs "frotte" - 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 "frotte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #216,624 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "foute" and "frotte" 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 #216,624 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.