CNEvscoiWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: CNE is a noun, coi is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#47,795
“CNE” frequency rank
#40,676
“coi” frequency rank
88471
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature CNE coi
Definition Contrat nouvelle embauche, type de contrat de travail en France. Qui est calme, tranquille.

Where the eye mixes CNE and coi

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. CNE (CCV) and coi (CVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
CNE
3 ch
coi

Why the eye confuses CNE with coi

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: CNE is \se.ɛn.ø\ while coi is \kwa\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88471, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

CNE is recorded at frequency rank #47,795, classified as anoun, pronounced \se.ɛn.ø\. coi is at rank #40,676, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kwa\.

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 88471, this pair ranks #6,945 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of CNE vs coi

Shared letters: c. Private to "CNE": en. Private to "coi": io.

"CNE" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "coi" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "CNE" for "coi" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "CNE" is a noun and "coi" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "CNE" or "coi"?
"coi" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,676 in our French list, against #47,795 for "CNE". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "CNE" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "coi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #6,945 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "CNE" and "coi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CNE vs conde". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #6,945 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