Which to use
“coûterait” and “couvrait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,494
- “coûterait” frequency rank
- #22,817
- “couvrait” frequency rank
- 42311
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coûterait | couvrait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du conditionnel présent de coûter. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de couvrir. |
Where the eye mixes coûterait and couvrait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between coûterait and couvrait
A purely visual mix-up. coûterait (\ku.tə.ʁɛ\) 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 42311, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coûterait is recorded at frequency rank #19,494, classified as averb, pronounced \ku.tə.ʁɛ\. 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 42311, this pair ranks #226,570 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of coûterait vs couvrait
Shared letters: aciort. Private to "coûterait": eû. Private to "couvrait": uv.
"coûterait" · 9 letters · shape CVVCVCVVC · "couvrait" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- couvrait ← ccouvrait · courvait · couvarit · couvraitt · couvrati · couvriat · couvrrait · couvvrait
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "coûterait" for "couvrait" ever safe?
Frequency check: "coûterait" vs "couvrait" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "coûterait" 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 #226,570 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coûterait" and "couvrait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "courais vs couvrait". 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 #226,570 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.