cotéevscoûterWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: cotée is a adjective, coûter is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cotée” is an adjective and “coûter” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,815
“cotée” frequency rank
#8,089
“coûter” frequency rank
30904
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cotée coûter
Definition Féminin singulier de coté. Valoir tel ou tel prix d’achat.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cotée and coûter apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
cotée
6 ch
coûter

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cotée is \kɔ.te\ while coûter is \ku.te\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30904, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cotée is recorded at frequency rank #22,815, classified as anadj, pronounced \kɔ.te\. 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 30904, this pair ranks #307,268 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cotée vs coûter

Shared letters: ceot. Private to "cotée": é. Private to "coûter": .

"cotée" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "coûter" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Frequency comparison

cotée#22,815
coûter#8,089

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cotée" and "coûter" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cotée" is an adjective and "coûter" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cotée" or "coûter"?
"coûter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,089 in our French list, against #22,815 for "cotée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cotée vs coûter

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “cotée”; for a verb, it's “coûter”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cotée” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list