Which to use
“cotiser” and “côtoyer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,750
- “cotiser” frequency rank
- #20,975
- “côtoyer” frequency rank
- 58725
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cotiser | côtoyer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Verser une cotisation. | Être côte à côte avec, marcher auprès de, quelqu'un. |
Where the eye mixes cotiser and côtoyer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cotiser with côtoyer
A purely visual mix-up. cotiser (\kɔ.ti.ze\) and côtoyer (\ko.twa.je\) 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 58725, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cotiser is recorded at frequency rank #37,750, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ.ti.ze\. côtoyer is at rank #20,975, tagged as averb, pronounced \ko.twa.je\.
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 58725, this pair ranks #107,307 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cotiser vs côtoyer
Shared letters: ceort. Private to "cotiser": is. Private to "côtoyer": yô.
"cotiser" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "côtoyer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cotiser ← ccotiser · coitser · cotiesr · cotiserr · cotisre · cotisser · cotsier · cottiser
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cotiser" and "côtoyer" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "cotiser" or "côtoyer" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cotiser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "côtoyer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #107,307 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cotiser" and "côtoyer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cotiser vs cruiser". 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 #107,307 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.