Which to use
“chute” is a noun and “coûter” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,904
- “chute” frequency rank
- #8,089
- “coûter” frequency rank
- 9993
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chute | coûter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fait de choir, de tomber ou de se détacher d’un tout ; le mouvement ou l’action correspondante. | Valoir tel ou tel prix d’achat. |
Where the eye mixes chute and coûter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between chute and coûter
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: chute is \ʃyt\ while coûter is \ku.te\. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9993, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chute is recorded at frequency rank #1,904, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃyt\. coûter is at rank #8,089, tagged as averb, pronounced \ku.te\.
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 9993, this pair ranks #414,629 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of chute vs coûter
Shared letters: cet. Private to "chute": hu. Private to "coûter": orû.
"chute" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "coûter" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- chute ← cchute · chhute · chtue · chuet · chutte · cuhte · hcute
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "chute" and "coûter" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "chute" vs "coûter" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "chute" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coûter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #414,629 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chute" and "coûter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "courber vs coûter". 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 #414,629 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.