Which to use
“congés” and “coupes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,826
- “congés” frequency rank
- #5,235
- “coupes” frequency rank
- 14061
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | congés | coupes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de congé. | Pluriel de coupe. |
Where the eye mixes congés and coupes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. congés (CVCCVC) and coupes (CVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: congés vs coupes
A purely visual mix-up. congés (\kɔ̃.ʒe\) and coupes (\kup\) 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 14061, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
congés is recorded at frequency rank #8,826, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.ʒe\. coupes is at rank #5,235, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kup\.
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 14061, this pair ranks #398,354 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of congés vs coupes
Shared letters: cos. Private to "congés": gné. Private to "coupes": epu.
"congés" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "coupes" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- coupes ← ccoupes · copues · coueps · coupess · couppes · coupse · cuopes · ocupes
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "congés" for "coupes" ever safe?
Which is more common, "congés" or "coupes"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "congés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coupes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #398,354 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "congés" and "coupes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "congés vs courges". 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 #398,354 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.