Which to use
“cou” is a noun and “crut” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,063
- “cou” frequency rank
- #30,968
- “crut” frequency rank
- 34031
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cou | crut |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partie du corps qui joint la tête aux épaules. | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de croire. |
Where the eye mixes cou and crut
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cou and crut
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cou is \ku\ while crut is \kʁy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34031, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cou is recorded at frequency rank #3,063, classified as anoun, pronounced \ku\. crut is at rank #30,968, tagged as averb, pronounced \kʁy\.
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 34031, this pair ranks #286,631 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cou vs crut
Shared letters: cu. Private to "cou": o. Private to "crut": rt.
"cou" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "crut" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- crut ← ccrut · crrut · crtu · crutt · curt · rcut
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cou" and "crut" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "cou" or "crut"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cou" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #286,631 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cou" and "crut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "count vs crut". 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 #286,631 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.