Which to use
“cocher” is an adjective and “coûter” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,836
- “cocher” frequency rank
- #8,089
- “coûter” frequency rank
- 24925
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cocher | coûter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui permet le passage des véhicules. | Valoir tel ou tel prix d’achat. |
Where the eye mixes cocher and coûter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: cocher vs coûter
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cocher is \kɔ.ʃe\ while coûter is \ku.te\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24925, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cocher is recorded at frequency rank #16,836, classified as anadj, pronounced \kɔ.ʃe\. 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 24925, this pair ranks #343,789 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cocher vs coûter
Shared letters: ceor. Private to "cocher": h. Private to "coûter": tû.
"cocher" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "coûter" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cocher ← ccocher · ccoher · coccher · cocehr · cocherr · cochher · cochre · cohcer
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cocher" for "coûter" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cocher" vs "coûter" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cocher" 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 #343,789 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cocher" and "coûter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coaches vs cocher". 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 #343,789 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.