coqvscutWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,980
“coq” frequency rank
#17,668
“cut” frequency rank
26648
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature coq cut
Definition Genre d’oiseau de l’ordre des galliformes et de la famille des phasianidés, comprenant quatre espèces habitant les forêts humides du sud de l’Asie, de l’Inde jusqu’à l’Indonésie, au dimorphisme sexuel extrêmement prononcé, et dont une espèce, le coq doré (Gallus gallus) est l’ancêtre universel du coq domestique de basse-cour. Pointage permettant de se qualifier.

Where the eye mixes coq and cut

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
coq
3 ch
cut

Visual trap between coq and cut

A purely visual mix-up. coq (\kɔk\) and cut (\kœt\) 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 26648, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

coq is recorded at frequency rank #8,980, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔk\. cut is at rank #17,668, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kœt\.

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 26648, this pair ranks #333,682 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of coq vs cut

Shared letters: c. Private to "coq": oq. Private to "cut": tu.

"coq" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "cut" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "coq" and "cut" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\kɔk\ versus \kœt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "coq" or "cut" show up more?
"coq" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,980 in our French list, against #17,668 for "cut". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "coq" and "cut" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "coq" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #333,682 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "coq" and "cut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCE vs cut". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #333,682 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