citentvscoûtentWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#22,515
“citent” frequency rank
#12,137
“coûtent” frequency rank
34652
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature citent coûtent
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent du verbe citer. Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent du verbe coûter.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set citent and coûtent apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
citent
7 ch
coûtent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. citent (\sit\) and coûtent (\kut\) 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 34652, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

citent is recorded at frequency rank #22,515, classified as averb, pronounced \sit\. coûtent is at rank #12,137, tagged as averb, pronounced \kut\.

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 34652, this pair ranks #282,338 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of citent vs coûtent

Shared letters: cent. Private to "citent": i. Private to "coûtent": .

"citent" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "coûtent" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • citentccitent · cietnt · citennt · citentt · citetn · citnet · cittent · ctient

Frequency comparison

citent#22,515
coûtent#12,137

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "citent" and "coûtent" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\sit\ versus \kut\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "citent" or "coûtent"?
"coûtent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,137 in our French list, against #22,515 for "citent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering citent vs coûtent

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 “citent” 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