cinqvsCIVWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: cinq is a adjective, CIV is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cinq” is an adjective and “CIV” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#424
“cinq” frequency rank
#18,435
“CIV” frequency rank
18859
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cinq CIV
Definition Adjectif numéral correspondant au cardinal quatre plus un. Conditions internationales de vente.

Where the eye mixes cinq and CIV

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

4 ch
cinq
3 ch
CIV

Why the eye confuses cinq with CIV

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cinq is \sɛ̃k\ while CIV is \se.i.ve\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18859, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cinq is recorded at frequency rank #424, classified as anadj, pronounced \sɛ̃k\. CIV is at rank #18,435, tagged as anoun, pronounced \se.i.ve\.

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 18859, this pair ranks #376,228 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cinq vs CIV

Shared letters: ci. Private to "cinq": nq. Private to "CIV": v.

"cinq" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "CIV" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cinqccinq · cinnq · cinqq · ciqn · cniq · icnq

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cinq" and "CIV" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cinq" is an adjective and "CIV" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "cinq" vs "CIV" - which ranks higher?
"cinq" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #424 in our French list, against #18,435 for "CIV". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cinq" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "CIV" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #376,228 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cinq" and "CIV" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ciro vs CIV". 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 #376,228 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list