coûts vs cts, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#3,450
“coûts” frequency rank: #39,736
“cts” frequency rank: 43186
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	coûts	cts
Definition	Pluriel de coût.	Carats

Where the eye mixes coûts and cts

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch

coûts

3 ch

cts

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. coûts (\ku\) and cts (\ka.ʁa\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43186, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

coûts is recorded at frequency rank #3,450, classified as anoun, pronounced \ku\. cts is at rank #39,736, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ka.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 43186, this pair ranks #220,008 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of coûts vs cts

Shared letters: cst. Private to "coûts": oû. Private to "cts": -.

"coûts" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "cts" · 3 letters · shape CCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "coûts" and "cts" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (\ku\ versus \ka.ʁa\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "coûts" or "cts"?

"coûts" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,450 in our French list, against #39,736 for "cts". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "coûts" and "cts". Here's where to go from here.

Full dictionary entry for "coûts" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "cts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #220,008 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"coûts" and "cts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCE vs cts". Nearby pair

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.