Which to use
“ku” and “kung” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,917
- “ku” frequency rank
- #21,985
- “kung” frequency rank
- 44902
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ku | kung |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Lettre latine Q, q. | Roi. |
Where the eye mixes ku and kung
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ku runs 2 letters (CV) against kung's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: ku vs kung
A purely visual mix-up. ku (\ky\) and kung (\kɵŋ\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “ku” sits inside “kung”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44902, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ku is recorded at frequency rank #22,917, classified as anoun, pronounced \ky\. kung is at rank #21,985, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɵŋ\.
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 44902, this pair ranks #206,924 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ku vs kung
Shared letters: ku. Private to "ku": -. Private to "kung": gn.
"ku" · 2 letters · shape CV · "kung" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- kung ← kkung · knug · kugn · kungg · kunng · ukng
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ku" and "kung" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "ku" vs "kung" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "ku" and "kung" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ku" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #206,924 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ku" and "kung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ku vs ky". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #206,924 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.