connesvsconnusWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#33,619
“connes” frequency rank
#2,914
“connus” frequency rank
36533
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature connes connus
Definition Féminin pluriel de con. Masculin pluriel de connu.

Where the eye mixes connes and connus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
connes
6 ch
connus

Why the eye confuses connes with connus

A purely visual mix-up. connes (\kɔn\) and connus (\kɔ.ny\) 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 - e in “connes” becomes u in “connus”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36533, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

connes is recorded at frequency rank #33,619, classified as anadj, pronounced \kɔn\. connus is at rank #2,914, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kɔ.ny\.

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 36533, this pair ranks #268,954 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of connes vs connus

Shared letters: cnos. Private to "connes": e. Private to "connus": u.

"connes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "connus" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • connescconnes · cnones · conens · conness · connse · ocnnes
  • connuscconnus · cnonus · connsu · connuss · conuns · conus · ocnnus

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "connes" and "connus" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɔn\ versus \kɔ.ny\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "connes" or "connus" show up more?
"connus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,914 in our French list, against #33,619 for "connes". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "connes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "connus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #268,954 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "connes" and "connus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "congres vs connes". 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 #268,954 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