Which to use
“coup” and “coûts” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #226
- “coup” frequency rank
- #3,450
- “coûts” frequency rank
- 3676
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coup | coûts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Impression que fait un corps sur un autre en le frappant. | Pluriel de coût. |
Same sound, different letters: coup vs coûts
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 2 letters.
Same sound, different spelling - coup / coûts
This is the hard kind. coup and coûts are pronounced identically (\ku\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3676, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coup is recorded at frequency rank #226, classified as anoun, pronounced \ku\. coûts is at rank #3,450, 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 3676, this pair ranks #433,439 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of coup vs coûts
Shared letters: co. Private to "coup": pu. Private to "coûts": stû.
"coup" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "coûts" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- coup ← ccoup · copu · coupp · cuop · ocup
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "coup" and "coûts" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "coup" or "coûts"?
What to do next
"coup" and "coûts" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "coup" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coûts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #433,439 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coup" and "coûts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coupa vs coûts". 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 #433,439 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.