Which to use
“cochons” is an adjective and “cordons” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,732
- “cochons” frequency rank
- #24,531
- “cordons” frequency rank
- 36263
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cochons | cordons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de cochon. | Pluriel de cordon. |
Where the eye mixes cochons and cordons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cochons and cordons follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses cochons with cordons
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cochons is \kɔ.ʃɔ̃\ while cordons is \kɔʁ.dɔ̃\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36263, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cochons is recorded at frequency rank #11,732, classified as anadj, pronounced \kɔ.ʃɔ̃\. cordons is at rank #24,531, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔʁ.dɔ̃\.
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 36263, this pair ranks #270,804 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cochons vs cordons
Shared letters: cnos. Private to "cochons": h. Private to "cordons": dr.
"cochons" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "cordons" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cochons" and "cordons" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "cochons" or "cordons" show up more?
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 "cochons" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cordons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #270,804 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cochons" and "cordons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cordons vs cotons". 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 #270,804 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.