Which to use
“cod” and “cou” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,379
- “cod” frequency rank
- #3,063
- “cou” frequency rank
- 20442
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cod | cou |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Morue (poisson), cabillaud. | Partie du corps qui joint la tête aux épaules. |
Where the eye mixes cod and cou
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cod with cou
A purely visual mix-up. cod (\kɒd\) and cou (\ku\) 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 a single letter - d in “cod” becomes u in “cou”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20442, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cod is recorded at frequency rank #17,379, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɒd\. 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 20442, this pair ranks #368,246 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cod vs cou
Shared letters: co. Private to "cod": d. Private to "cou": u.
"cod" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "cou" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cod" for "cou" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cod" vs "cou" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cod" 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 #368,246 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cod" and "cou" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cod vs conde". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #368,246 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.