Which to use
“coûtait” and “coûtent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,155
- “coûtait” frequency rank
- #12,137
- “coûtent” frequency rank
- 35292
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coûtait | coûtent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif imparfait de coûter. | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent du verbe coûter. |
Where the eye mixes coûtait and coûtent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. coûtait (CVVCVVC) and coûtent (CVVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between coûtait and coûtent
A purely visual mix-up. coûtait (\ku.tɛ\) and coûtent (\kut\) 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 35292, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coûtait is recorded at frequency rank #23,155, classified as averb, pronounced \ku.tɛ\. coûtent is at rank #12,137, tagged as averb, pronounced \kut\.
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 35292, this pair ranks #277,813 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of coûtait vs coûtent
Shared letters: cotû. Private to "coûtait": ai. Private to "coûtent": en.
"coûtait" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC · "coûtent" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "coûtait" for "coûtent" ever safe?
Frequency check: "coûtait" vs "coûtent" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "coûtait" and "coûtent" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "coûtait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coûtent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #277,813 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coûtait" and "coûtent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "courais vs coûtait". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #277,813 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.