Which to use
“clou” and “coût” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,128
- “clou” frequency rank
- #1,767
- “coût” frequency rank
- 13895
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clou | coût |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tige rigide, de fer ou d’autre métal, courte, pointue, et à la tête aplatie ou protubérante, qui sert de cheville pour fixer ou à pendre quelque chose. | Ce qu’une chose coûte ; son prix de revient. |
Where the eye mixes clou and coût
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. clou (CCVV) and coût (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses clou with coût
A purely visual mix-up. clou (\klu\) and coût (\ku\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13895, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clou is recorded at frequency rank #12,128, classified as anoun, pronounced \klu\. coût is at rank #1,767, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ku\.
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 13895, this pair ranks #399,078 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of clou vs coût
Shared letters: co. Private to "clou": lu. Private to "coût": tû.
"clou" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "coût" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- clou ← cclou · cllou · cluo · colu · lcou
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "clou" and "coût" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "clou" or "coût" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "clou" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coût" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #399,078 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clou" and "coût" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clou vs coon". 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 #399,078 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.