cognévsconConfusable pair

Quick tell: cogné is a verb, con is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cogné” is a verb and “con” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#27,008
“cogné” frequency rank
#1,056
“con” frequency rank
28064
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cogné con
Definition Participe passé masculin singulier du verbe cogner. Sexe de la femme.

Where the eye mixes cogné and con

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

5 ch
cogné
3 ch
con

Why the eye confuses cogné with con

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cogné is \kɔ.ɲe\ while con is \kɔ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28064, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cogné is recorded at frequency rank #27,008, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ.ɲe\. con is at rank #1,056, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃\.

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 28064, this pair ranks #325,126 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cogné vs con

Shared letters: cno. Private to "cogné": . Private to "con": -.

"cogné" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "con" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cogné" and "con" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cogné" is a verb and "con" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cogné" or "con"?
"con" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,056 in our French list, against #27,008 for "cogné". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "cogné" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "con" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #325,126 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cogné" and "con" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cogné vs conde". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #325,126 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