Which to use
“ko” and “kou” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,864
- “ko” frequency rank
- #47,413
- “kou” frequency rank
- 57277
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ko | kou |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Configuration cyclique de pions, si fréquente que des règles spécifiques la traitent. | Tambour chinois. |
Where the eye mixes ko and kou
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ko with kou
A purely visual mix-up. ko (\ko\) and kou (\ku\) 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 extra letter(s) - “ko” sits inside “kou”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57277, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ko is recorded at frequency rank #9,864, classified as anoun, pronounced \ko\. 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 57277, this pair ranks #116,029 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ko vs kou
Shared letters: ko. Private to "ko": -. Private to "kou": u.
"ko" · 2 letters · shape CV · "kou" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ko" for "kou" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ko" vs "kou" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ko" 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 #116,029 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ko" and "kou" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kou vs ky". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #116,029 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.