tuvstuésWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tu is a pronoun, tués is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#40
“tu” frequency rank
#3,809
“tués” frequency rank
3849
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tu tués
Definition Pronom personnel sujet de la deuxième personne du singulier. Masculin pluriel de tué.

Where the eye mixes tu and tués

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

2 ch
tu
4 ch
tués

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tu is \ty\ while tués is \tɥe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “tu” sits inside “tués”, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3849, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tu is recorded at frequency rank #40, classified as apron, pronounced \ty\. tués is at rank #3,809, tagged as anadj, pronounced \tɥe\.

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 3849, this pair ranks #433,056 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tu vs tués

Shared letters: tu. Private to "tu": -. Private to "tués": .

"tu" · 2 letters · shape CV  ·  "tués" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tu" and "tués" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tu" is a pronoun and "tués" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tu" or "tués"?
"tu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40 in our French list, against #3,809 for "tués". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "tu" and "tués". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tués" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #433,056 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tu" and "tués" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tués vs turf". Nearby pair

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list