Which to use
“ceux” is a pronoun and “cou” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #175
- “ceux” frequency rank
- #3,063
- “cou” frequency rank
- 3238
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ceux | cou |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de celui. | Partie du corps qui joint la tête aux épaules. |
Where the eye mixes ceux and cou
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between ceux and cou
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ceux is \sø\ while cou is \ku\. 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 (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3238, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ceux is recorded at frequency rank #175, classified as apron, pronounced \sø\. cou is at rank #3,063, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ku\.
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 3238, this pair ranks #434,481 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ceux vs cou
Shared letters: cu. Private to "ceux": ex. Private to "cou": o.
"ceux" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "cou" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- ceux ← cceux · ceuxx · cexu · cuex · ecux
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ceux" and "cou" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "ceux" vs "cou" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ceux" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cou" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #434,481 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ceux" and "cou" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cou vs coupa". 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 #434,481 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.