lettervslutteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#37,407
“letter” frequency rank
#1,184
“lutte” frequency rank
38591
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature letter lutte
Definition Lettre, caractère. Sorte d’exercice, de combat, où deux hommes se prennent corps à corps et cherchent à se terrasser l’un l’autre.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
letter
5 ch
lutte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. letter (\ˈlɛt.ə(ɹ)\) and lutte (\lyt\) 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 38591, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

letter is recorded at frequency rank #37,407, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈlɛt.ə(ɹ)\. lutte is at rank #1,184, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lyt\.

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 38591, this pair ranks #254,210 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of letter vs lutte

Shared letters: elt. Private to "letter": r. Private to "lutte": u.

"letter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "lutte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lettereltter · leter · letetr · letterr · lletter · lteter
  • luttellutte · ltute · lute · lutet · ultte

Frequency comparison

letter#37,407
lutte#1,184

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "letter" and "lutte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ˈlɛt.ə(ɹ)\ versus \lyt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "letter" or "lutte"?
"lutte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,184 in our French list, against #37,407 for "letter". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering letter vs lutte

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 “letter” 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