guévsgutWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#24,618
“gué” frequency rank
#45,089
“gut” frequency rank
69707
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gué gut
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. Rituel chamanique consistant à communiquer avec les esprits.

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
gué
3 ch
gut

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. gué (\ɡe\) and gut (\ɡyt\) 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 t in “gut”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69707, 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\. gut is at rank #45,089, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡyt\.

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 69707, this pair ranks #54,123 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of gué vs gut

Shared letters: gu. Private to "gué": é. Private to "gut": t.

"gué" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "gut" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

gué#24,618
gut#45,089

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gué" and "gut" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɡe\ versus \ɡyt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gué" or "gut"?
"gué" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,618 in our French list, against #45,089 for "gut". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering gué vs gut

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 “gué” 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