têtu vs tofu, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“têtu” is an adjective and “tofu” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,059
“têtu” frequency rank: #23,712
“tofu” frequency rank: 46771
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	têtu	tofu
Definition	Opiniâtre, obstiné, qui ne veut pas démordre de son idée, opinion, ou volonté.	Pâte blanche peu odorante, issue du caillage du lait de soja.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch

têtu

4 ch

tofu

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: têtu is \tɛ.ty\ while tofu is \to.fu\. 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 46771, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

têtu is recorded at frequency rank #23,059, classified as anadj, pronounced \tɛ.ty\. tofu is at rank #23,712, tagged as anoun, pronounced \to.fu\.

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 46771, this pair ranks #192,215 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of têtu vs tofu

Shared letters: tu. Private to "têtu": ê. Private to "tofu": fo.

"têtu" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "tofu" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

tofu ← otfu · tfou · toffu · touf · ttofu

Frequency comparison

têtu#23,059

tofu#23,712

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "têtu" and "tofu" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "têtu" is an adjective and "tofu" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "têtu" or "tofu"?

"têtu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,059 in our French list, against #23,712 for "tofu". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering têtu vs tofu

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “têtu”; for a noun, it's “tofu”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “têtu” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable