têtuvstteTell them apart

Which to use

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

#23,059
“têtu” frequency rank
#36,628
“tte” frequency rank
59687
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature têtu tte
Definition Opiniâtre, obstiné, qui ne veut pas démordre de son idée, opinion, ou volonté. Toute.

Where the eye mixes têtu and tte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. têtu runs 4 letters (CVCV) against tte's 3 (CCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
têtu
3 ch
tte

Visual trap between têtu and tte

A purely visual mix-up. têtu (\tɛ.ty\) and tte (\tut\) 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 59687, 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\. tte is at rank #36,628, tagged as anadj, pronounced \tut\.

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 59687, this pair ranks #101,733 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of têtu vs tte

Shared letters: t. Private to "têtu": uê. Private to "tte": e.

"têtu" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "tte" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "têtu" and "tte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\tɛ.ty\ versus \tut\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "têtu" vs "tte" - which ranks higher?
"têtu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,059 in our French list, against #36,628 for "tte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "têtu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #101,733 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "têtu" and "tte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tif vs tte". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #101,733 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list