gonvsgooWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#38,319
“gon” frequency rank
#46,194
“goo” frequency rank
84513
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gon goo
Definition Grade, unité de mesure d’angle plan. Substance liquide ou semi-liquide ; en particulier, liquide plus ou moins visqueux, poisseux ou glissant, ou bien fluide corporel. Jaja.

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
gon
3 ch
goo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. gon (\ɡɔ̃\) and goo (\ɡuː\) 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 a single letter - n in “gon” becomes o in “goo”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84513, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gon is recorded at frequency rank #38,319, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡɔ̃\. goo is at rank #46,194, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡuː\.

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 84513, this pair ranks #12,874 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of gon vs goo

Shared letters: go. Private to "gon": n. Private to "goo": -.

"gon" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "goo" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequency comparison

gon#38,319
goo#46,194

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gon" and "goo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɡɔ̃\ versus \ɡuː\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "gon" or "goo"?
"gon" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,319 in our French list, against #46,194 for "goo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering gon vs goo

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 “gon” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list