coupéevscourseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,633
“coupée” frequency rank
#1,059
“course” frequency rank
10692
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature coupée course
Definition Coupure du pont d’un navire de commerce dont l’arrière est exhaussé pour donner aux cabines plus d’élévation. Action de courir, mouvement de celui qui court.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
coupée
6 ch
course

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. coupée (\ku.pe\) and course (\kuʁs\) 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 10692, 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\. course is at rank #1,059, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kuʁs\.

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 10692, this pair ranks #412,000 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of coupée vs course

Shared letters: ceou. Private to "coupée": . Private to "course": rs.

"coupée" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV  ·  "course" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • courseccourse · coruse · coures · courrse · coursse · cousre · cuorse · ocurse

Frequency comparison

coupée#9,633
course#1,059

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "coupée" and "course" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ku.pe\ versus \kuʁs\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "coupée" or "course"?
"course" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,059 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 course

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