Which to use
“couper” and “coupez” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,418
- “couper” frequency rank
- #17,665
- “coupez” frequency rank
- 20083
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | couper | coupez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Diviser un corps continu, avec quelque chose de tranchant. | Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de couper. |
Same sound, different letters: couper vs coupez
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters.
Same sound, different spelling - couper / coupez
This is the hard kind. couper and coupez are pronounced identically (\ku.pe\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by a single letter - r in “couper” becomes z in “coupez”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20083, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
couper is recorded at frequency rank #2,418, classified as averb, pronounced \ku.pe\. coupez is at rank #17,665, tagged as averb, pronounced \ku.pe\.
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 20083, this pair ranks #370,026 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of couper vs coupez
Shared letters: ceopu. Private to "couper": r. Private to "coupez": z.
"couper" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "coupez" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "couper" for "coupez" ever safe?
Frequency check: "couper" vs "coupez" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "couper" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coupez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #370,026 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "couper" and "coupez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coupa vs coupez". 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 #370,026 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.