Which to use
“cous” and “cts” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,734
- “cous” frequency rank
- #39,736
- “cts” frequency rank
- 78470
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cous | cts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pierre à aiguiser utilisée par les faucheurs. | Carats |
Where the eye mixes cous and cts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cous and cts
A purely visual mix-up. cous (\kus\) and cts (\ka.ʁa\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78470, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cous is recorded at frequency rank #38,734, classified as anoun, pronounced \kus\. cts is at rank #39,736, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ka.ʁa\.
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 78470, this pair ranks #25,645 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cous vs cts
Shared letters: cs. Private to "cous": ou. Private to "cts": t.
"cous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "cts" · 3 letters · shape CCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cous ← ccous · cosu · couss · cuos · ocus
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cous" and "cts" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "cous" vs "cts" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cous" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #25,645 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cous" and "cts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCE vs cts". 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 #25,645 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.