Which to use
“collait” and “coûtait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,892
- “collait” frequency rank
- #23,155
- “coûtait” frequency rank
- 55047
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | collait | coûtait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif imparfait de coller. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif imparfait de coûter. |
Where the eye mixes collait and coûtait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. collait (CVCCVVC) and coûtait (CVVCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between collait and coûtait
A purely visual mix-up. collait (\kɔ.lɛ\) and coûtait (\ku.tɛ\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55047, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
collait is recorded at frequency rank #31,892, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ.lɛ\. coûtait is at rank #23,155, tagged as averb, pronounced \ku.tɛ\.
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 55047, this pair ranks #130,003 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of collait vs coûtait
Shared letters: aciot. Private to "collait": l. Private to "coûtait": û.
"collait" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "coûtait" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- collait ← ccollait · clolait · colait · colalit · collaitt · collati · colliat · ocllait
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "collait" and "coûtait" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "collait" or "coûtait" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "collait" and "coûtait" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "collait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coûtait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #130,003 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "collait" and "coûtait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "colla vs collait". 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 #130,003 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.