Which to use
“exam” and “exo” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,546
- “exam” frequency rank
- #29,769
- “exo” frequency rank
- 58315
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | exam | exo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Examen (dans le sens lié aux études universitaires). | Exercice. |
Where the eye mixes exam and exo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. exam runs 4 letters (VCVC) against exo's 3 (VCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses exam with exo
A purely visual mix-up. exam (\ɛɡ.zam\) and exo (\ɛɡ.zo\) 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 58315, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
exam is recorded at frequency rank #28,546, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛɡ.zam\. exo is at rank #29,769, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛɡ.zo\.
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 58315, this pair ranks #109,807 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of exam vs exo
Shared letters: ex. Private to "exam": am. Private to "exo": o.
"exam" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "exo" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- exam ← eaxm · examm · exma · exxam · xeam
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "exam" and "exo" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "exam" vs "exo" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "exam" and "exo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "exam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "exo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #109,807 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "exam" and "exo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "EPO vs exo". 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 #109,807 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.