caussevscousueWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“causse” and “cousue” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#41,174
“causse” frequency rank
#39,728
“cousue” frequency rank
80902
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature causse cousue
Definition Nom donné dans le Massif Central à de hauts plateaux calcaires nus et arides. Cigarette industrielle, déjà roulée, par opposition à celle que l’on roule soi-même.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set causse and cousue apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
causse
6 ch
cousue

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. causse (\kos\) and cousue (\ku.zy\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80902, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

causse is recorded at frequency rank #41,174, classified as anoun, pronounced \kos\. cousue is at rank #39,728, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ku.zy\.

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 80902, this pair ranks #19,884 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of causse vs cousue

Shared letters: cesu. Private to "causse": a. Private to "cousue": o.

"causse" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "cousue" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • causseacusse · casuse · ccausse · cuasse
  • cousueccousue · cosuue · couseu · coussue · couuse · cuosue · ocusue

Frequency comparison

causse#41,174
cousue#39,728

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "causse" and "cousue" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kos\ versus \ku.zy\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "causse" or "cousue"?
"cousue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,728 in our French list, against #41,174 for "causse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering causse vs cousue

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “causse” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list