coûtentvscoûteraWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“coûtent” and “coûtera” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#12,137
“coûtent” frequency rank
#14,437
“coûtera” frequency rank
26574
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature coûtent coûtera
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent du verbe coûter. Troisième personne du singulier du futur de coûter.

Where the eye mixes coûtent and coûtera

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. coûtent (CVVCVCC) and coûtera (CVVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
coûtent
7 ch
coûtera

Look-alike desk: coûtent vs coûtera

A purely visual mix-up. coûtent (\kut\) and coûtera (\ku.tə.ʁa\) 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 26574, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

coûtent is recorded at frequency rank #12,137, classified as averb, pronounced \kut\. coûtera is at rank #14,437, tagged as averb, pronounced \ku.tə.ʁa\.

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 26574, this pair ranks #334,156 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of coûtent vs coûtera

Shared letters: ceotû. Private to "coûtent": n. Private to "coûtera": ar.

"coûtent" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC  ·  "coûtera" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "coûtent" and "coûtera" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\kut\ versus \ku.tə.ʁa\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "coûtent" or "coûtera"?
"coûtent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,137 in our French list, against #14,437 for "coûtera". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "coûtent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "coûtera" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #334,156 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "coûtent" and "coûtera" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "courra vs coûtera". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #334,156 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list