Which to use
“côte” and “cts” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,288
- “côte” frequency rank
- #39,736
- “cts” frequency rank
- 41024
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | côte | cts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Chacun des os qui forment la cage thoracique. | Carats |
Where the eye mixes côte and cts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. côte runs 4 letters (CVCV) against cts's 3 (CCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: côte vs cts
A purely visual mix-up. côte (\kot\) and cts (\ka.ʁa\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41024, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
côte is recorded at frequency rank #1,288, classified as anoun, pronounced \kot\. cts is at rank #39,736, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ka.ʁa\.
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 41024, this pair ranks #236,132 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of côte vs cts
Shared letters: ct. Private to "côte": eô. Private to "cts": s.
"côte" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "cts" · 3 letters · shape CCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "côte" and "cts" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "côte" or "cts" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "côte" and "cts" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "côte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #236,132 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "côte" and "cts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCE vs cts". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #236,132 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.