couper les ponts
\ku.pe lɛ pɔ̃\
The verdict
“couper les ponts” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 16
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Se mettre dans l’impossibilité de revenir en arrière.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | couper les ponts |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | \ku.pe lɛ pɔ̃\ |
| Letters | 16 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “couper les ponts” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for couper les ponts is 16 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ku.pe lɛ pɔ̃\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for couper les ponts, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is couper les ponts, spelled C-O-U-P-E-R- -L-E-S- -P-O-N-T-S.
Definition
- 1Se mettre dans l’impossibilité de revenir en arrière.
- 2Cesser, rompre les relations (avec quelqu’un).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “couper les ponts”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is C-O-U-P-E-R- -L-E-S- -P-O-N-T-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ku.pe lɛ pɔ̃\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.