Which to use
“coûtant” is an adjective and “coûtent” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #37,752
- “coûtant” frequency rank
- #12,137
- “coûtent” frequency rank
- 49889
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coûtant | coûtent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui coûte. | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent du verbe coûter. |
Where the eye mixes coûtant and coûtent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. coûtant and coûtent follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between coûtant and coûtent
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: coûtant is \ku.tɑ̃\ while coûtent is \kut\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “coûtant” becomes e in “coûtent”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49889, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coûtant is recorded at frequency rank #37,752, classified as anadj, pronounced \ku.tɑ̃\. 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 49889, this pair ranks #167,089 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of coûtant vs coûtent
Shared letters: cnotû. Private to "coûtant": a. Private to "coûtent": e.
"coûtant" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC · "coûtent" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "coûtant" and "coûtent" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "coûtant" vs "coûtent" - which ranks higher?
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 "coûtant" 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 #167,089 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coûtant" and "coûtent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "count vs coûtant". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #167,089 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.