Which to use
“colons” and “cols” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,675
- “colons” frequency rank
- #16,096
- “cols” frequency rank
- 24771
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | colons | cols |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de colon. | Pluriel de col. |
Where the eye mixes colons and cols
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: colons vs cols
A purely visual mix-up. colons (\kɔ.lɔ̃\) and cols (\kɔl\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24771, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
colons is recorded at frequency rank #8,675, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.lɔ̃\. cols is at rank #16,096, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔl\.
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 24771, this pair ranks #344,709 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of colons vs cols
Shared letters: clos. Private to "colons": n. Private to "cols": -.
"colons" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "cols" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "colons" and "cols" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "colons" or "cols" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "colons" and "cols" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "colons" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cols" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #344,709 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "colons" and "cols" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cols vs coon". 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 #344,709 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.