coupéevscoupureWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,633
“coupée” frequency rank
#9,632
“coupure” frequency rank
19265
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature coupée coupure
Definition Coupure du pont d’un navire de commerce dont l’arrière est exhaussé pour donner aux cabines plus d’élévation. Séparation ou division faite en tranchant dans un corps continu.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set coupée and coupure apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
coupée
7 ch
coupure

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. coupée (\ku.pe\) and coupure (\ku.pyʁ\) 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 19265, 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\. coupure is at rank #9,632, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ku.pyʁ\.

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 19265, this pair ranks #374,112 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of coupée vs coupure

Shared letters: ceopu. Private to "coupée": é. Private to "coupure": r.

"coupée" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV  ·  "coupure" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • coupureccoupure · copuure · couppure · couprue · coupuer · coupurre · couupre · cuopure

Frequency comparison

coupée#9,633
coupure#9,632

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "coupée" and "coupure" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ku.pe\ versus \ku.pyʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "coupée" or "coupure"?
"coupure" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,632 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 coupure

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