Which to use
“cotta” and “coûte” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,090
- “cotta” frequency rank
- #2,915
- “coûte” frequency rank
- 49005
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cotta | coûte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de cotter. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de coûter. |
Where the eye mixes cotta and coûte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cotta and coûte
A purely visual mix-up. cotta (\kɔ.ta\) and coûte (\kut\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49005, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cotta is recorded at frequency rank #46,090, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ.ta\. coûte is at rank #2,915, tagged as averb, pronounced \kut\.
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 49005, this pair ranks #174,258 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cotta vs coûte
Shared letters: cot. Private to "cotta": a. Private to "coûte": eû.
"cotta" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "coûte" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- cotta ← ccotta · cotat · ctota · octta
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cotta" and "coûte" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "cotta" vs "coûte" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cotta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coûte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #174,258 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cotta" and "coûte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cotta vs coupa". 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 #174,258 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.