Which to use
“thu” and “TPE” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,228
- “thu” frequency rank
- #14,813
- “TPE” frequency rank
- 63041
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | thu | TPE |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forme mutée de tu par spirantisation. | Travaux personnels encadrés. |
Where the eye mixes thu and TPE
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. thu and TPE follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: thu vs TPE
A purely visual mix-up. thu (\θɨː\) and TPE (\te.pe.ə\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63041, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
thu is recorded at frequency rank #48,228, classified as anoun, pronounced \θɨː\. TPE is at rank #14,813, tagged as anoun, pronounced \te.pe.ə\.
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 63041, this pair ranks #83,988 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of thu vs TPE
Shared letters: t. Private to "thu": hu. Private to "TPE": ep.
"thu" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "TPE" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "thu" for "TPE" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "thu" or "TPE" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "thu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "TPE" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #83,988 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "thu" and "TPE" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "thu vs tif". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #83,988 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.