monkvsmonthWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“monk” and “month” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#26,093
“monk” frequency rank
#45,178
“month” frequency rank
71271
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature monk month
Definition Moine, religieux, monial. Mois.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set monk and month apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
monk
5 ch
month

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. monk (\mʌŋk\) and month (\mʌnθ\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71271, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

monk is recorded at frequency rank #26,093, classified as anoun, pronounced \mʌŋk\. month is at rank #45,178, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mʌnθ\.

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 71271, this pair ranks #48,179 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of monk vs month

Shared letters: mno. Private to "monk": k. Private to "month": ht.

"monk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "month" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • monkmmonk · mnok · mokn · monkk · monnk · omnk
  • monthmmonth · mnoth · monht · monnth · monthh · montth · motnh · omnth

Frequency comparison

monk#26,093
month#45,178

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "monk" and "month" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\mʌŋk\ versus \mʌnθ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "monk" or "month"?
"monk" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,093 in our French list, against #45,178 for "month". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering monk vs month

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “monk” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list