têtu vs tu, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#23,059
“têtu” frequency rank: #40
“tu” frequency rank: 23099
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	têtu	tu
Definition	Opiniâtre, obstiné, qui ne veut pas démordre de son idée, opinion, ou volonté.	Pronom personnel sujet de la deuxième personne du singulier.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch

têtu

2 ch

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: têtu is \tɛ.ty\ while tu is \ty\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “tu” sits inside “têtu”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23099, 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\. tu is at rank #40, tagged as apron, pronounced \ty\.

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 23099, this pair ranks #354,356 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of têtu vs tu

Shared letters: tu. Private to "têtu": ê. Private to "tu": -.

"têtu" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "tu" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequency comparison

têtu#23,059

tu#40

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

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

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

Which is more common, "têtu" or "tu"?

"tu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40 in our French list, against #23,059 for "têtu". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering têtu vs tu

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “têtu”; for a pronoun, it's “tu”.
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