Which to use
“capable” and “coupable” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,222
- “capable” frequency rank
- #2,767
- “coupable” frequency rank
- 3989
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | capable | coupable |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est en état de faire une chose ; qui a la capacité. | Qui a commis une faute, un crime, en parlant d’une personne. |
Where the eye mixes capable and coupable
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: capable vs coupable
A purely visual mix-up. capable (\ka.pabl\) and coupable (\ku.pabl\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3989, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
capable is recorded at frequency rank #1,222, classified as anadj, pronounced \ka.pabl\. coupable is at rank #2,767, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ku.pabl\.
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 3989, this pair ranks #432,719 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of capable vs coupable
Shared letters: abcelp. Private to "capable": -. Private to "coupable": ou.
"capable" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "coupable" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "capable" and "coupable" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "capable" or "coupable"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "capable" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coupable" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #432,719 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "capable" and "coupable" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Calabre vs capable". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #432,719 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.