Which to use
“ten” is an adjective and “thu” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,809
- “ten” frequency rank
- #48,228
- “thu” frequency rank
- 63037
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ten | thu |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dix. | Forme mutée de tu par spirantisation. |
Where the eye mixes ten and thu
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ten vs thu
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ten is \ˈtɛn\ while thu is \θɨː\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63037, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ten is recorded at frequency rank #14,809, classified as anadj, pronounced \ˈtɛn\. thu is at rank #48,228, tagged as anoun, pronounced \θɨː\.
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 63037, this pair ranks #84,005 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ten vs thu
Shared letters: t. Private to "ten": en. Private to "thu": hu.
"ten" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "thu" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ten" and "thu" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "ten" or "thu" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "ten" and "thu" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "thu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #84,005 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ten" and "thu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "thu vs tif". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #84,005 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.