c'mon vs con, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“c'mon” is a contraction and “con” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,341
“c'mon” frequency rank: #4,434
“con” frequency rank: 14775
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	c'mon	con
Definition	Contraction of come on.	To study or examine carefully, especially in order to gain knowledge of; to learn, or learn by heart.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set c'mon and con apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

c'mon

3 ch

con

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: c'mon is /kəˈmɒn/ while con is /kɒn/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (contraction vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14775, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

c'mon is recorded at frequency rank #10,341, classified as acontraction, pronounced /kəˈmɒn/. con is at rank #4,434, tagged as averb, pronounced /kɒn/.

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 14775, this pair ranks #468,015 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of c'mon vs con

Shared letters: cno. Private to "c'mon": m. Private to "con": -.

"c'mon" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "con" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

c'mon#10,341

con#4,434

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "c'mon" and "con" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "c'mon" is a contraction and "con" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "c'mon" or "con"?

"con" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,434 in our English list, against #10,341 for "c'mon". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering c'mon vs con

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a contraction, it's “c'mon”; for a verb, it's “con”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “c'mon” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable