fusvsfûtsWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#19,029
“fus” frequency rank
#21,949
“fûts” frequency rank
40978
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fus fûts
Definition Première personne du singulier du passé simple de être. Pluriel de fût.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fus and fûts apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
fus
4 ch
fûts

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: fus and fûts carry the same recorded pronunciation, \fy\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40978, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fus is recorded at frequency rank #19,029, classified as averb, pronounced \fy\. fûts is at rank #21,949, 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 40978, this pair ranks #236,503 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fus vs fûts

Shared letters: fs. Private to "fus": u. Private to "fûts": .

"fus" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "fûts" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Frequency comparison

fus#19,029
fûts#21,949

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fus" and "fûts" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fus" is a verb and "fûts" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fus" or "fûts"?
"fus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,029 in our French list, against #21,949 for "fûts". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fus vs fûts

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “fus”; for a noun, it's “fûts”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fus” 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