copyvscosaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#43,360
“copy” frequency rank
#46,679
“cosa” frequency rank
90039
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature copy cosa
Definition Copie. Variante du IXᵉ siècle de chose.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set copy and cosa apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
copy
4 ch
cosa

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. copy (\ˈkɒp.i\) and cosa (\ˈkɔza ~ˈkɔzə\) 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 90039, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

copy is recorded at frequency rank #43,360, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈkɒp.i\. cosa is at rank #46,679, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈkɔza ~ˈkɔzə\.

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 90039, this pair ranks #5,202 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of copy vs cosa

Shared letters: co. Private to "copy": py. Private to "cosa": as.

"copy" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "cosa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • copyccopy · coppy · copyy · coyp · cpoy · ocpy
  • cosaccosa · coas · cossa · csoa · ocsa

Frequency comparison

copy#43,360
cosa#46,679

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "copy" and "cosa" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ˈkɒp.i\ versus \ˈkɔza ~ˈkɔzə\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "copy" or "cosa"?
"copy" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #43,360 in our French list, against #46,679 for "cosa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering copy vs cosa

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “copy” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list