uit vs ut, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“uit” is an onomatopoeia and “ut” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,796
“uit” frequency rank: #20,597
“ut” frequency rank: 65393
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	uit	ut
Definition	Bruit évoquant une action effectuée très rapidement.	La première note de l’échelle des sons.

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch

uit

2 ch

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: uit is \ɥit\ while ut is \yt\. 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 (onomatopoeia vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65393, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

uit is recorded at frequency rank #44,796, classified as anonomatopoeia, pronounced \ɥit\. ut is at rank #20,597, tagged as anoun, pronounced \yt\.

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 65393, this pair ranks #72,570 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of uit vs ut

Shared letters: tu. Private to "uit": i. Private to "ut": -.

"uit" · 3 letters · shape VVC · "ut" · 2 letters · shape VC

Frequency comparison

uit#44,796

ut#20,597

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "uit" and "ut" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "uit" is an onomatopoeia and "ut" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "uit" or "ut"?

"ut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,597 in our French list, against #44,796 for "uit". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering uit vs ut

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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