Which to use
“ke” is a verb and “kou” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,717
- “ke” frequency rank
- #47,413
- “kou” frequency rank
- 62130
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ke | kou |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe kam. | Tambour chinois. |
Where the eye mixes ke and kou
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. ke runs 2 letters (CV) against kou's 3 (CVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: ke vs kou
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ke is \ˈke\ while kou is \ku\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62130, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ke is recorded at frequency rank #14,717, classified as averb, pronounced \ˈke\. kou is at rank #47,413, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ku\.
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 62130, this pair ranks #88,683 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ke vs kou
Shared letters: k. Private to "ke": e. Private to "kou": ou.
"ke" · 2 letters · shape CV · "kou" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ke" and "kou" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "ke" or "kou"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kou" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #88,683 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ke" and "kou" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kou vs ky". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #88,683 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.