Which to use
“côtes” and “cotte” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,395
- “côtes” frequency rank
- #43,365
- “cotte” frequency rank
- 46760
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | côtes | cotte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de côte. | Jupe. |
Where the eye mixes côtes and cotte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between côtes and cotte
A purely visual mix-up. côtes (\kot\) and cotte (\kɔt\) 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 46760, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
côtes is recorded at frequency rank #3,395, classified as anoun, pronounced \kot\. cotte is at rank #43,365, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔt\.
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 46760, this pair ranks #192,308 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of côtes vs cotte
Shared letters: cet. Private to "côtes": sô. Private to "cotte": o.
"côtes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "cotte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- cotte ← ccotte · cotet · ctote · octte
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "côtes" for "cotte" ever safe?
Frequency check: "côtes" vs "cotte" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "côtes" and "cotte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "côtes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cotte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #192,308 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "côtes" and "cotte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Cosette vs cotte". 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 #192,308 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.