kunvskungWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“kun” and “kung” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#17,465
“kun” frequency rank
#21,378
“kung” frequency rank
38843
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kun kung
Definition Aceite de animal. Rey.

Where the eye mixes kun and kung

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

3 ch
kun
4 ch
kung

Look-alike desk: kun vs kung

A purely visual mix-up. kun ([kun]) and kung ([kɵŋ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “kun” sits inside “kung”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38843, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kun is recorded at frequency rank #17,465, classified as anoun, pronounced [kun]. kung is at rank #21,378, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kɵŋ].

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 38843, this pair ranks #167,788 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kun vs kung

Shared letters: knu. Private to "kun": -. Private to "kung": g.

"kun" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "kung" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kungkkung · knug · kugn · kungg · kunng · ukng

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kun" and "kung" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kun] versus [kɵŋ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "kun" or "kung" show up more?
"kun" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,465 in our Spanish list, against #21,378 for "kung". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kun" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #167,788 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kun" and "kung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kano vs kung". 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 #167,788 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