Which to use
“john” and “jour” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #414
- “john” frequency rank
- #29,330
- “jour” frequency rank
- 29744
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | john | jour |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A prostitute's client. | Abbreviation of journeyman, e.g. jour printer. |
Where the eye mixes john and jour
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. john (/ˈd͡ʒɑn/) and jour (/ˈd͡ʒɝ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29744, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
john is recorded at frequency rank #414, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈd͡ʒɑn/. jour is at rank #29,330, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈd͡ʒɝ/.
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 29744, this pair ranks #360,425 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of john vs jour
Shared letters: jo. Private to "john": hn. Private to "jour": ru.
"john" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "jour" · 4 letters · shape CVVC