goûtvsguiWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,293
“goût” frequency rank
#21,335
“gui” frequency rank
22628
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature goût gui
Definition Celui des cinq sens par lequel on discerne les saveurs. Plante verte hémiparasite et épiphyte à tiges articulées dichotomiques et à baies globuleuses qui croissent sur les branches de certains arbres, grâce à leur suçoir conique (ou haustorium) et dont les graines collantes sont disséminées par divers oiseaux.

Where the eye mixes goût and gui

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

4 ch
goût
3 ch
gui

Look-alike desk: goût vs gui

A purely visual mix-up. goût (\ɡu\) and gui (\ɡi\) 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 22628, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

goût is recorded at frequency rank #1,293, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡu\. gui is at rank #21,335, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡi\.

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 22628, this pair ranks #356,957 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of goût vs gui

Shared letters: g. Private to "goût": otû. Private to "gui": iu.

"goût" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "gui" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "goût" for "gui" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\ɡu\ versus \ɡi\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "goût" or "gui"?
"goût" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,293 in our French list, against #21,335 for "gui". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "goût" and "gui" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "goût" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gui" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #356,957 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "goût" and "gui" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "glue vs gui". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #356,957 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list