Which to use
“cost” is a verb and “cs” is a conjunction - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #568
- “cost” frequency rank
- #8,268
- “cs” frequency rank
- 8836
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cost | cs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To incur a charge of; to require payment of a (specified) price. | Abbreviation of 'cause (because). |
Letter map: cost vs cs
Shared letters muted; letters that set cost and cs apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Role in the sentence - cost and cs
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: cost is averb and csaconjunction. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8836, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cost is recorded at frequency rank #568, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈkɒst/. cs is at rank #8,268, tagged as aconj.
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 8836, this pair ranks #500,488 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cost vs cs
Shared letters: cs. Private to "cost": ot. Private to "cs": -.
"cost" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "cs" · 2 letters · shape CC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cost ← ccost · cosst · costt · cots · csot · ocst
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cost" for "cs" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cost" vs "cs" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "cost" and "cs".
- Full dictionary entry for "cost" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #500,488 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cost" and "cs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CGT vs cs". 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 #500,488 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.