se couper en quatre

\sə ku.pe ɑ̃ katʁ\

/\sə ku.pe ɑ̃ katʁ\/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“se couper en quatre” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
19
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Faire des efforts considérables pour rendre service à quelqu’un.

Key facts for se couper en quatre
PropertyValue
Headwordse couper en quatre
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\sə ku.pe ɑ̃ katʁ\
Letters19
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “se couper en quatre” sits in French frequency

se couper en quatre falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

se couper en quatre is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed \sə ku.pe ɑ̃ katʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Faire des efforts considérables pour rendre service à quelqu’un.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for se couper en quatre in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is se couper en quatre, spelled S-E- -C-O-U-P-E-R- -E-N- -Q-U-A-T-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Faire des efforts considérables pour rendre service à quelqu’un.

Synonyms

se mettre en quatrese plier en quatre

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

How do you spell "se couper en quatre"?
"se couper en quatre" is spelled S-E- -C-O-U-P-E-R- -E-N- -Q-U-A-T-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is \sə ku.pe ɑ̃ katʁ\.
What does "se couper en quatre" mean?
As a verb, "se couper en quatre" means: Faire des efforts considérables pour rendre service à quelqu’un.
How do you pronounce "se couper en quatre"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "se couper en quatre" is \sə ku.pe ɑ̃ katʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "se couper en quatre" come from?
"se couper en quatre" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “se couper en quatre”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is S-E- -C-O-U-P-E-R- -E-N- -Q-U-A-T-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \sə ku.pe ɑ̃ katʁ\ (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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list