codevscoverWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“code” and “cover” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#818
“code” frequency rank
#18,452
“cover” frequency rank
19270
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature code cover
Definition Ensemble de lois ou d’ordonnances relatives à une matière spéciale ou réunies par le législateur. Reprise d'une chanson par un interprète différent et généralement dans un style différent.

Where the eye mixes code and cover

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
code
5 ch
cover

Look-alike desk: code vs cover

A purely visual mix-up. code (\kɔd\) and cover (\kɔ.vœʁ\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19270, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

code is recorded at frequency rank #818, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔd\. cover is at rank #18,452, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.vœʁ\.

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 19270, this pair ranks #374,083 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of code vs cover

Shared letters: ceo. Private to "code": d. Private to "cover": rv.

"code" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "cover" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • codeccode · cdoe · codde · coed
  • coverccover · coevr · coverr · covre · covver · cvoer · ocver

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "code" for "cover" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\kɔd\ versus \kɔ.vœʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "code" or "cover"?
"code" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #818 in our French list, against #18,452 for "cover". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "code" and "cover" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "code" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cover" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #374,083 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "code" and "cover" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "COV vs cover". 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 #374,083 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