Which to use
“coûtait” and “couvrait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,155
- “coûtait” frequency rank
- #22,817
- “couvrait” frequency rank
- 45972
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coûtait | couvrait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif imparfait de coûter. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de couvrir. |
Where the eye mixes coûtait and couvrait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. coûtait runs 7 letters (CVVCVVC) against couvrait's 8 (CVVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: coûtait vs couvrait
A purely visual mix-up. coûtait (\ku.tɛ\) and couvrait (\ku.vʁɛ\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45972, 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\. couvrait is at rank #22,817, tagged as averb, pronounced \ku.vʁɛ\.
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 45972, this pair ranks #198,639 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of coûtait vs couvrait
Shared letters: aciot. Private to "coûtait": û. Private to "couvrait": ruv.
"coûtait" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC · "couvrait" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- couvrait ← ccouvrait · courvait · couvarit · couvraitt · couvrati · couvriat · couvrrait · couvvrait
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "coûtait" and "couvrait" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "coûtait" vs "couvrait" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "coûtait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "couvrait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #198,639 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coûtait" and "couvrait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "courais vs coûtait". 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 #198,639 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.