Which to use
“cosa” and “coût” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,679
- “cosa” frequency rank
- #1,767
- “coût” frequency rank
- 48446
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cosa | coût |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Variante du IXᵉ siècle de chose. | Ce qu’une chose coûte ; son prix de revient. |
Where the eye mixes cosa and coût
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cosa with coût
A purely visual mix-up. cosa (\ˈkɔza ~ˈkɔzə\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48446, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cosa is recorded at frequency rank #46,679, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈkɔza ~ˈkɔzə\. 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 48446, this pair ranks #178,878 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cosa vs coût
Shared letters: co. Private to "cosa": as. Private to "coût": tû.
"cosa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "coût" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cosa ← ccosa · coas · cossa · csoa · ocsa
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cosa" for "coût" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cosa" vs "coût" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cosa" 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 #178,878 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cosa" and "coût" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cosa vs coupa". 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 #178,878 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.