Which to use
“thu” and “tun” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,228
- “thu” frequency rank
- #49,414
- “tun” frequency rank
- 97642
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | thu | tun |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forme mutée de tu par spirantisation. | Craie glauconieuse. |
Where the eye mixes thu and tun
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. thu (CCV) and tun (CVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between thu and tun
A purely visual mix-up. thu (\θɨː\) and tun (\tyn\) 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 97642, 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\. tun is at rank #49,414, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tyn\.
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 97642, this pair ranks #291 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of thu vs tun
Shared letters: tu. Private to "thu": h. Private to "tun": n.
"thu" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "tun" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "thu" and "tun" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "thu" or "tun" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "thu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #291 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "thu" and "tun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tif vs tun". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #291 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.