Which to use
“copains” and “cousins” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,930
- “copains” frequency rank
- #8,222
- “cousins” frequency rank
- 13152
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | copains | cousins |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de copain. | Pluriel de cousin. |
Where the eye mixes copains and cousins
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. copains (CVCVVCC) and cousins (CVVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: copains vs cousins
A purely visual mix-up. copains (\kɔ.pɛ̃\) and cousins (\ku.zɛ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13152, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
copains is recorded at frequency rank #4,930, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.pɛ̃\. cousins is at rank #8,222, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ku.zɛ̃\.
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 13152, this pair ranks #402,215 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of copains vs cousins
Shared letters: cinos. Private to "copains": ap. Private to "cousins": u.
"copains" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC · "cousins" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "copains" and "cousins" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "copains" or "cousins" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "copains" and "cousins" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "copains" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cousins" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #402,215 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "copains" and "cousins" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cocaine vs copains". 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 #402,215 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.