Which to use
“côtoient” and “croient” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,904
- “côtoient” frequency rank
- #3,190
- “croient” frequency rank
- 25094
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | côtoient | croient |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de côtoyer. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de croire. |
Where the eye mixes côtoient and croient
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. côtoient runs 8 letters (CVCVVVCC) against croient's 7 (CCVVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: côtoient vs croient
A purely visual mix-up. côtoient (\ko.twa\) and croient (\kʁwa\) 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 25094, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
côtoient is recorded at frequency rank #21,904, classified as averb, pronounced \ko.twa\. croient is at rank #3,190, tagged as averb, pronounced \kʁwa\.
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 25094, this pair ranks #342,836 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of côtoient vs croient
Shared letters: ceinot. Private to "côtoient": ô. Private to "croient": r.
"côtoient" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVVCC · "croient" · 7 letters · shape CCVVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- croient ← ccroient · corient · crioent · croeint · croiennt · croientt · croietn · croinet
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "côtoient" and "croient" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "côtoient" vs "croient" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "côtoient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "croient" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #342,836 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "côtoient" and "croient" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chient vs croient". 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 #342,836 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.