copvscosConfusable pair

Quick tell: cop is a verb, cos is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cop” is a verb and “cos” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,809
“cop” frequency rank
#23,736
“cos” frequency rank
48545
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cop cos
Definition Atrapar. Cuerpo.

Where the eye mixes cop and cos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
cop
3 ch
cos

Visual trap between cop and cos

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cop is /kɒp/ while cos is [ˈkos]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - p in “cop” becomes s in “cos”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48545, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cop is recorded at frequency rank #24,809, classified as averb, pronounced /kɒp/. cos is at rank #23,736, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkos].

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 48545, this pair ranks #113,885 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cop vs cos

Shared letters: co. Private to "cop": p. Private to "cos": s.

"cop" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "cos" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cop" and "cos" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cop" is a verb and "cos" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "cop" or "cos" show up more?
"cos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,736 in our Spanish list, against #24,809 for "cop". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "cop" and "cos" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cop" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #113,885 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cop" and "cos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cop vs cuc". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #113,885 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list