Which to use
“kad” and “kan” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,622
- “kad” frequency rank
- #21,371
- “kan” frequency rank
- 69993
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kad | kan |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Combat, bataille. | Prince commandant chez les Mongols (autrefois appelés Tartares), les chefs d’État de Perse d’origine mongole, etc. |
Where the eye mixes kad and kan
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. kad and kan follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: kad vs kan
A purely visual mix-up. kad (\ˈkɑːt\) and kan (\kɑ̃\) 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 - d in “kad” becomes n in “kan”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69993, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kad is recorded at frequency rank #48,622, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈkɑːt\. kan is at rank #21,371, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɑ̃\.
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 69993, this pair ranks #53,040 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of kad vs kan
Shared letters: ak. Private to "kad": d. Private to "kan": n.
"kad" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "kan" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "kad" for "kan" ever safe?
Which is more common, "kad" or "kan"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "kad" and "kan" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "kad" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #53,040 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kad" and "kan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kad vs ky". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #53,040 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.