copiesvscopsConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#7,041
“copies” frequency rank
#39,241
“cops” frequency rank
46282
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature copies cops
Definition Pluriel de copie. Enroulement de fils sur un tube cylindrique ou cylindro-conique.

Where the eye mixes copies and cops

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
copies
4 ch
cops

Why the eye confuses copies with cops

A purely visual mix-up. copies (\kɔ.pi\) and cops (\kɔps\) 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 46282, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

copies is recorded at frequency rank #7,041, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.pi\. cops is at rank #39,241, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔps\.

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 46282, this pair ranks #196,163 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of copies vs cops

Shared letters: cops. Private to "copies": ei. Private to "cops": -.

"copies" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "cops" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • copiesccopies · coipes · copeis · copiess · copise · coppies · cpoies · ocpies
  • copsccops · copps · copss · cosp · cpos · ocps

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "copies" and "cops" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\kɔ.pi\ versus \kɔps\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "copies" vs "cops" - which ranks higher?
"copies" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,041 in our French list, against #39,241 for "cops". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "copies" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cops" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #196,163 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "copies" and "cops" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cops vs coupa". 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 #196,163 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