count vs coût, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“count” and “coût” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#47,263
“count” frequency rank: #1,767
“coût” frequency rank: 49030
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	count	coût
Definition	Compte, action de compter.	Ce qu’une chose coûte ; son prix de revient.

Where the eye mixes count and coût

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch

count

4 ch

coût

Why the eye confuses count with coût

A purely visual mix-up. count (\kaʊnt\) and coût (\ku\) 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 49030, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

count is recorded at frequency rank #47,263, classified as anoun, pronounced \kaʊnt\. coût is at rank #1,767, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ku\.

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 49030, this pair ranks #174,036 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of count vs coût

Shared letters: cot. Private to "count": nu. Private to "coût": û.

"count" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "coût" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

count ← ccount · counnt · countt · coutn · cuont · ocunt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "count" and "coût" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (\kaʊnt\ versus \ku\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "count" or "coût"?

"coût" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,767 in our French list, against #47,263 for "count". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "count" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "coût" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #174,036 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"count" and "coût" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "count 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 #174,036 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.