Which to use
“coûtait” and “coûterait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,155
- “coûtait” frequency rank
- #19,494
- “coûterait” frequency rank
- 42649
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coûtait | coûterait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif imparfait de coûter. | Troisième personne du singulier du conditionnel présent de coûter. |
Where the eye mixes coûtait and coûterait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. coûtait runs 7 letters (CVVCVVC) against coûterait's 9 (CVVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses coûtait with coûterait
A purely visual mix-up. coûtait (\ku.tɛ\) and coûterait (\ku.tə.ʁɛ\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42649, 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\. coûterait is at rank #19,494, tagged as averb, pronounced \ku.tə.ʁɛ\.
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 42649, this pair ranks #224,012 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of coûtait vs coûterait
Shared letters: aciotû. Private to "coûtait": -. Private to "coûterait": er.
"coûtait" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC · "coûterait" · 9 letters · shape CVVCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "coûtait" for "coûterait" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "coûtait" or "coûterait" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "coûtait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coûterait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #224,012 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coûtait" and "coûterait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "courais vs coûtait". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #224,012 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.