Which to use
“coûtent” is a verb and “coûteux” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,137
- “coûtent” frequency rank
- #9,460
- “coûteux” frequency rank
- 21597
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coûtent | coûteux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent du verbe coûter. | Qui coûte cher. |
Where the eye mixes coûtent and coûteux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. coûtent (CVVCVCC) and coûteux (CVVCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: coûtent vs coûteux
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: coûtent is \kut\ while coûteux is \ku.tø\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21597, 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\. coûteux is at rank #9,460, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ku.tø\.
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 21597, this pair ranks #362,354 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of coûtent vs coûteux
Shared letters: ceotû. Private to "coûtent": n. Private to "coûteux": ux.
"coûtent" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC · "coûteux" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "coûtent" and "coûteux" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "coûtent" or "coûteux" show up more?
After this comparison
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 "coûteux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #362,354 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coûtent" and "coûteux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "count vs coûtent". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #362,354 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.