Which to use
“connu” is an adjective and “connut” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #718
- “connu” frequency rank
- #18,445
- “connut” frequency rank
- 19163
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | connu | connut |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dont on a connaissance. | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de connaître (ou connaitre). |
Same sound, different letters: connu vs connut
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters.
Homophone desk: connu vs connut
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: connu and connut carry the same recorded pronunciation, \kɔ.ny\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “connu” sits inside “connut”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19163, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
connu is recorded at frequency rank #718, classified as anadj, pronounced \kɔ.ny\. connut is at rank #18,445, tagged as averb, 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 19163, this pair ranks #374,651 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of connu vs connut
Shared letters: cnou. Private to "connu": -. Private to "connut": t.
"connu" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "connut" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "connu" and "connut" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "connu" or "connut"?
Useful next steps
You've separated the homophone pair "connu" / "connut". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "connu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "connut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #374,651 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "connu" and "connut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "connut vs count". 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 #374,651 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.