Which to use
“ken” is a verb and “kou” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,971
- “ken” frequency rank
- #47,413
- “kou” frequency rank
- 54384
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ken | kou |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Niquer (au sens sexuel), faire l’amour. | Tambour chinois. |
Where the eye mixes ken and kou
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. ken (CVC) and kou (CVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses ken with kou
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ken is \kɛn\ while kou is \ku\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54384, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ken is recorded at frequency rank #6,971, classified as averb, pronounced \kɛn\. 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 54384, this pair ranks #134,405 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ken vs kou
Shared letters: k. Private to "ken": en. Private to "kou": ou.
"ken" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "kou" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ken" for "kou" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "ken" or "kou" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ken" 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 #134,405 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ken" and "kou" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kou vs ky". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #134,405 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.