examvsexoWhat's the difference?

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set exam and exo apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
exam
3 ch
exo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

  • exameaxm · examm · exma · exxam · xeam

Frequency comparison

exam#28,546
exo#29,769

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "exam" and "exo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɛɡ.zam\ versus \ɛɡ.zo\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "exam" or "exo"?
"exam" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,546 in our French list, against #29,769 for "exo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering exam vs exo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “exam” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list