Which to use
“coûter” and “couve” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,089
- “coûter” frequency rank
- #32,360
- “couve” frequency rank
- 40449
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coûter | couve |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Valoir tel ou tel prix d’achat. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de couver. |
Where the eye mixes coûter and couve
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: coûter vs couve
A purely visual mix-up. coûter (\ku.te\) and couve (\kuv\) 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 40449, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coûter is recorded at frequency rank #8,089, classified as averb, pronounced \ku.te\. couve is at rank #32,360, tagged as averb, pronounced \kuv\.
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 40449, this pair ranks #240,415 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of coûter vs couve
Shared letters: ceo. Private to "coûter": rtû. Private to "couve": uv.
"coûter" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "couve" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- couve ← ccouve · couev · couvve · covue · cuove · ocuve
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "coûter" for "couve" ever safe?
Frequency check: "coûter" vs "couve" - which ranks higher?
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 "coûter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "couve" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #240,415 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coûter" and "couve" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coupa vs couve". 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 #240,415 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.