Which to use
“coudre” and “couve” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,451
- “coudre” frequency rank
- #32,360
- “couve” frequency rank
- 50811
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coudre | couve |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Assembler deux ou plusieurs objets avec un fil passé dans une aiguille ou un autre instrument semblable. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de couver. |
Where the eye mixes coudre and couve
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. coudre runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against couve's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between coudre and couve
A purely visual mix-up. coudre (\kudʁ\) and couve (\kuv\) 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 50811, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coudre is recorded at frequency rank #18,451, classified as averb, pronounced \kudʁ\. couve is at rank #32,360, tagged as averb, pronounced \kuv\.
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 50811, this pair ranks #159,774 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of coudre vs couve
Shared letters: ceou. Private to "coudre": dr. Private to "couve": v.
"coudre" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "couve" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "coudre" for "couve" ever safe?
Frequency check: "coudre" vs "couve" - 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 "coudre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "couve" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #159,774 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coudre" and "couve" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coupa vs couve". 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 #159,774 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.