coupéevscoupsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,633
“coupée” frequency rank
#1,227
“coups” frequency rank
10860
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature coupée coups
Definition Coupure du pont d’un navire de commerce dont l’arrière est exhaussé pour donner aux cabines plus d’élévation. Pluriel de coup.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set coupée and coups apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
coupée
5 ch
coups

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. coupée (\ku.pe\) and coups (\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 10860, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

coupée is recorded at frequency rank #9,633, classified as anoun, pronounced \ku.pe\. coups is at rank #1,227, 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 10860, this pair ranks #411,392 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of coupée vs coups

Shared letters: copu. Private to "coupée": . Private to "coups": s.

"coupée" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV  ·  "coups" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • coupsccoups · copus · coupps · coupss · cousp · cuops · ocups

Frequency comparison

coupée#9,633
coups#1,227

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "coupée" and "coups" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ku.pe\ versus \ku\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "coupée" or "coups"?
"coups" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,227 in our French list, against #9,633 for "coupée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering coupée vs coups

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “coupée” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list