Which to use
“thu” is a noun and “tus” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,228
- “thu” frequency rank
- #40,544
- “tus” frequency rank
- 88772
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | thu | tus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forme mutée de tu par spirantisation. | Masculin pluriel de tu. |
Where the eye mixes thu and tus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. thu (CCV) and tus (CVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between thu and tus
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: thu is \θɨː\ while tus is \ty\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88772, 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\. tus is at rank #40,544, tagged as anadj, 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 88772, this pair ranks #6,539 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of thu vs tus
Shared letters: tu. Private to "thu": h. Private to "tus": s.
"thu" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "tus" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "thu" for "tus" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "thu" or "tus" show up more?
Useful next steps
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 "tus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #6,539 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "thu" and "tus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "thu vs tif". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #6,539 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.