Which to use
“cous” and “coût” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,734
- “cous” frequency rank
- #1,767
- “coût” frequency rank
- 40501
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cous | coût |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pierre à aiguiser utilisée par les faucheurs. | Ce qu’une chose coûte ; son prix de revient. |
Where the eye mixes cous and coût
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: cous vs coût
A purely visual mix-up. cous (\kus\) and coût (\ku\) 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 40501, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cous is recorded at frequency rank #38,734, classified as anoun, pronounced \kus\. coût is at rank #1,767, 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 40501, this pair ranks #240,013 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cous vs coût
Shared letters: co. Private to "cous": su. Private to "coût": tû.
"cous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "coût" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cous ← ccous · cosu · couss · cuos · ocus
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cous" for "coût" ever safe?
Which is more common, "cous" or "coût"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cous" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coût" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #240,013 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cous" and "coût" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coupa vs cous". 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 #240,013 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.