English homophones
co/ko
"co" (#617 written frequency) beats "ko" (#10,717) in this 2-word /kəʊ/ cluster. Size rank #133 of 1,007 English groups.
Data vintage
Frequency splits the cluster
These 2 spellings keep the same /kəʊ/ reading, but written frequency splits them hard: "co" leads at #617, with "ko" trailing at #10,717.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- No shared spelling stem: "co" is 2 letters, "ko" is 2; only the sound ties them.
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across co, ko: o. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
co
2 letters · 1 vowels · shape CV
Inventory co · private c
ko
2 letters · 1 vowels · shape CV
Inventory ko · private k
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "co" when you mean: Clipping of company.
- Write "ko" when you mean: A local shape to which the ko rule applies; a ko shape.
Each spelling
Nearby English homophone groups
What to do next
You've reviewed the 2-spelling cluster (co, ko). Here's where to go from here.
- "co" is the most frequent headword in this 2-spelling cluster (rank #617 in English). Full entry
- Among English homophone groups, a cluster of 2 spellings ranks #133 by size (1,007 groups in this vintage). Corpus statistics
- Explore a nearby 2-spelling cluster: centered · centred. Nearby cluster
- Each spelling in "co, ko" has its own headword page with definition, IPA, and misspelling variants. First entry
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.