tuavstunWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tua is a verb, tun is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tua” is a verb and “tun” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,403
“tua” frequency rank
#49,414
“tun” frequency rank
72817
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tua tun
Definition Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de tuer. Craie glauconieuse.

Where the eye mixes tua and tun

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. tua (CVV) and tun (CVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
tua
3 ch
tun

Look-alike desk: tua vs tun

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tua is \tɥa\ while tun is \tyn\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “tua” becomes n in “tun”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72817, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tua is recorded at frequency rank #23,403, classified as averb, pronounced \tɥa\. 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 72817, this pair ranks #42,670 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tua vs tun

Shared letters: tu. Private to "tua": a. Private to "tun": n.

"tua" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "tun" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tua" and "tun" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tua" is a verb and "tun" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tua" or "tun"?
"tua" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,403 in our French list, against #49,414 for "tun". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tua" 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 #42,670 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tua" and "tun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tif vs tun". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #42,670 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list