ghostsvsgoûtsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“ghosts” and “goûts” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#45,636
“ghosts” frequency rank
#5,458
“goûts” frequency rank
51094
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ghosts goûts
Definition Pluriel de ghost. Pluriel de goût.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
ghosts
5 ch
goûts

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ghosts (\ɡɔst\) and goûts (\ɡu\) 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 51094, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ghosts is recorded at frequency rank #45,636, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡɔst\. goûts is at rank #5,458, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡu\.

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 51094, this pair ranks #157,645 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ghosts vs goûts

Shared letters: gost. Private to "ghosts": h. Private to "goûts": û.

"ghosts" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC  ·  "goûts" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ghostsgghosts · ghhosts · ghossts · ghostss · ghostts · ghotss · ghsots · gohsts

Frequency comparison

ghosts#45,636
goûts#5,458

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ghosts" and "goûts" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɡɔst\ versus \ɡu\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ghosts" or "goûts"?
"goûts" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,458 in our French list, against #45,636 for "ghosts". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ghosts vs goûts

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ghosts” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list