Which to use
“coauteur” is a noun and “coûter” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,710
- “coauteur” frequency rank
- #8,089
- “coûter” frequency rank
- 46799
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coauteur | coûter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Auteur d’un ouvrage écrit en collaboration. | Valoir tel ou tel prix d’achat. |
Where the eye mixes coauteur and coûter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. coauteur runs 8 letters (CVVVCVVC) against coûter's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: coauteur vs coûter
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: coauteur is \kɔ.o.tœʁ\ while coûter is \ku.te\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 46799, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coauteur is recorded at frequency rank #38,710, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.o.tœʁ\. 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 46799, this pair ranks #191,985 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of coauteur vs coûter
Shared letters: ceort. Private to "coauteur": au. Private to "coûter": û.
"coauteur" · 8 letters · shape CVVVCVVC · "coûter" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- coauteur ← caouteur · ccoauteur · coatueur · coauetur · coauteru · coauteurr · coautteur · coautuer
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "coauteur" for "coûter" ever safe?
Frequency check: "coauteur" vs "coûter" - which ranks higher?
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 "coauteur" 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 #191,985 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coauteur" and "coûter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coadjuteur vs coauteur". 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 #191,985 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.