Which to use
“cœurs” and “cous” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,946
- “cœurs” frequency rank
- #38,734
- “cous” frequency rank
- 45680
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cœurs | cous |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de cœur. | Pierre à aiguiser utilisée par les faucheurs. |
Where the eye mixes cœurs and cous
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cœurs runs 5 letters (CVVCC) against cous's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses cœurs with cous
A purely visual mix-up. cœurs (\kœʁ\) and cous (\kus\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45680, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cœurs is recorded at frequency rank #6,946, classified as anoun, pronounced \kœʁ\. cous is at rank #38,734, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kus\.
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 45680, this pair ranks #200,877 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cœurs vs cous
Shared letters: csu. Private to "cœurs": rœ. Private to "cous": o.
"cœurs" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "cous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cous ← ccous · cosu · couss · cuos · ocus
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cœurs" and "cous" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "cœurs" or "cous" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cœurs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cous" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #200,877 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cœurs" and "cous" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coupa vs cous". 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 #200,877 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.