tuervstuskWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,426
“tuer” frequency rank
#46,504
“tusk” frequency rank
47930
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tuer tusk
Definition Ôter la vie d’une manière violente ; ne se dit pas quand il s’agit d'une euthanasie, ni à la forme pronominale dans le cas d’une mort accidentelle par noyade, étouffement ou empoisonnement : on emploie alors se noyer, s’étouffer, s’empoisonner. Défense (dents).

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tuer and tusk apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
tuer
4 ch
tusk

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tuer is \tɥe\ while tusk is \ˈtʌsk\. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47930, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tuer is recorded at frequency rank #1,426, classified as averb, pronounced \tɥe\. tusk is at rank #46,504, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈtʌsk\.

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 47930, this pair ranks #183,015 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tuer vs tusk

Shared letters: tu. Private to "tuer": er. Private to "tusk": ks.

"tuer" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "tusk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tuerteur · ttuer · tuerr · ture · uter
  • tusktsuk · ttusk · tuks · tuskk · tussk · utsk

Frequency comparison

tuer#1,426
tusk#46,504

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tuer" and "tusk" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tuer" is a verb and "tusk" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tuer" or "tusk"?
"tuer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,426 in our French list, against #46,504 for "tusk". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering tuer vs tusk

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “tuer”; for a noun, it's “tusk”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tuer” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list