Which to use
“gué” and “gus” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,618
- “gué” frequency rank
- #17,148
- “gus” frequency rank
- 41766
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gué | gus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Endroit d’une rivière, d’un fleuve où l’eau est assez basse et le fond assez ferme pour qu’on puisse traverser à pied. | Gars ; mec ; quidam. |
Where the eye mixes gué and gus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. gué (CVV) and gus (CVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between gué and gus
A purely visual mix-up. gué (\ɡe\) and gus (\ɡys\) 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 a single letter - é in “gué” becomes s in “gus”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41766, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gué is recorded at frequency rank #24,618, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡe\. gus is at rank #17,148, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡys\.
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 41766, this pair ranks #230,661 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gué vs gus
Shared letters: gu. Private to "gué": é. Private to "gus": s.
"gué" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "gus" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "gué" and "gus" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "gué" vs "gus" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "gué" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #230,661 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gué" and "gus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "glue vs gué". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #230,661 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.