Which to use
“très” is an adverb and “tri” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #78
- “très” frequency rank
- #7,011
- “tri” frequency rank
- 7089
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | très | tri |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Beaucoup, au plus haut point (devant un adjectif ou un adverbe). | Action de trier. |
Where the eye mixes très and tri
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: très vs tri
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: très is \tʁɛ\ while tri is \tʁi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7089, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
très is recorded at frequency rank #78, classified as anadv, pronounced \tʁɛ\. tri is at rank #7,011, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tʁi\.
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 7089, this pair ranks #424,272 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of très vs tri
Shared letters: rt. Private to "très": sè. Private to "tri": i.
"très" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "tri" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "très" for "tri" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "très" or "tri" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "très" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tri" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #424,272 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "très" and "tri" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tif vs tri". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #424,272 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.