Which to use
“coupait” and “coûtait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,197
- “coupait” frequency rank
- #23,155
- “coûtait” frequency rank
- 56352
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coupait | coûtait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif imparfait de couper. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif imparfait de coûter. |
Where the eye mixes coupait and coûtait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between coupait and coûtait
A purely visual mix-up. coupait (\ku.pɛ\) and coûtait (\ku.tɛ\) 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 56352, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coupait is recorded at frequency rank #33,197, classified as averb, pronounced \ku.pɛ\. coûtait is at rank #23,155, tagged as averb, pronounced \ku.tɛ\.
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 56352, this pair ranks #121,633 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of coupait vs coûtait
Shared letters: aciot. Private to "coupait": pu. Private to "coûtait": û.
"coupait" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC · "coûtait" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- coupait ← ccoupait · copuait · couapit · coupaitt · coupati · coupiat · couppait · cuopait
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "coupait" and "coûtait" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "coupait" vs "coûtait" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "coupait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coûtait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #121,633 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coupait" and "coûtait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coupait vs courais". 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 #121,633 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.