Which to use
“cou” and “cup” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,063
- “cou” frequency rank
- #8,225
- “cup” frequency rank
- 11288
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cou | cup |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partie du corps qui joint la tête aux épaules. | Cup menstruelle. |
Where the eye mixes cou and cup
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: cou vs cup
A purely visual mix-up. cou (\ku\) and cup (\kœp\) 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 11288, 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\. cup is at rank #8,225, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kœp\.
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 11288, this pair ranks #409,711 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cou vs cup
Shared letters: cu. Private to "cou": o. Private to "cup": p.
"cou" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "cup" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cou" for "cup" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "cou" or "cup" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "cou" and "cup" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cou" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cup" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #409,711 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cou" and "cup" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coupa vs cup". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #409,711 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.