Which to use
“con” is a preposition and “cost” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16
- “con” frequency rank
- #21,956
- “cost” frequency rank
- 21972
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | con | cost |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | En compañía de. | Costo. |
Where the eye mixes con and cost
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between con and cost
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: con is [kõn] while cost is [ˈkɔst]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21972, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
con is recorded at frequency rank #16, classified as aprep, pronounced [kõn]. cost is at rank #21,956, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɔst].
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 21972, this pair ranks #252,493 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of con vs cost
Shared letters: co. Private to "con": n. Private to "cost": st.
"con" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "cost" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cost ← ccost · cosst · costt · cots · csot · ocst
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "con" and "cost" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "con" vs "cost" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "con" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cost" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #252,493 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "con" and "cost" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cost vs count". 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 #252,493 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.