coûte

Coûter is a French verb meaning to cost or to be priced at. It is used to indicate the price of a thing or the amount of money required to obtain it. In everyday speech, it is common to say Ça coûte combien? or Cela coûte cher, meaning “How much does it cost?” and “That costs a lot.” The verb is transitive and its subject is the price or the item that costs something.

Conjugation and forms: Coûter is a regular -er verb in many tenses but presents with a circumflex on the u in the stem. Present tense forms are je coûte, tu coûtes, il coûte, nous coûtons, vous coûtez, ils coûtent. The imperfect is coûtait, the passé composé uses the auxiliary avoir as cela a coûté, and the future is coûtera. The subjunctive and conditional forms follow common -er verb patterns as well (qu’il coûte, il coûterait, etc.).

Etymology and usage: The verb coûte derives from Old French coster, linked to Latin constare, with the sense shifting over time from “to stand” or “to be fixed” to the modern financial meaning of price. In modern French, coûte is typically paired with a noun denoting money or a value, such as un livre coûte vingt euros.

Related terms: The corresponding noun is le coût, meaning cost or price. Other idioms involving expense include coûter cher (to cost a lot) and expressions like coûter les yeux de la tête or coûter un bras, which convey high or exaggerated costs. See also cost and pricing terminology in financial contexts.