gènevsgonTell them apart

Which to use

“gène” and “gon” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#9,016
“gène” frequency rank
#38,319
“gon” frequency rank
47335
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gène gon
Definition Unité de base de l’information biologique qui se transmet de génération en génération. Grade, unité de mesure d’angle plan.

Where the eye mixes gène and gon

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
gène
3 ch
gon

Why the eye confuses gène with gon

A purely visual mix-up. gène (\ʒɛn\) and gon (\ɡɔ̃\) 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 47335, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gène is recorded at frequency rank #9,016, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʒɛn\. gon is at rank #38,319, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡɔ̃\.

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 47335, this pair ranks #187,771 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gène vs gon

Shared letters: gn. Private to "gène": . Private to "gon": o.

"gène" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "gon" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "gène" and "gon" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ʒɛn\ versus \ɡɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "gène" vs "gon" - which ranks higher?
"gène" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,016 in our French list, against #38,319 for "gon". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "gène" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gon" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #187,771 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "gène" and "gon" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gon vs gx". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #187,771 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list