recoinsvsreconnuConfusable pair

Quick tell: recoins is a noun, reconnu is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“recoins” is a noun and “reconnu” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#27,214
“recoins” frequency rank
#2,100
“reconnu” frequency rank
29314
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recoins reconnu
Definition Pluriel de recoin. Participe passé masculin singulier de reconnaître (ou reconnaitre).

Where the eye mixes recoins and reconnu

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. recoins (CVCVVCC) and reconnu (CVCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
recoins
7 ch
reconnu

Visual trap between recoins and reconnu

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: recoins is \ʁə.kwɛ̃\ while reconnu is \ʁə.kɔ.ny\. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29314, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recoins is recorded at frequency rank #27,214, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.kwɛ̃\. reconnu is at rank #2,100, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.kɔ.ny\.

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 29314, this pair ranks #317,455 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of recoins vs reconnu

Shared letters: cenor. Private to "recoins": is. Private to "reconnu": u.

"recoins" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC  ·  "reconnu" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recoins ← ercoins · rceoins · reccoins · recions · recoinns · recoinss · recoisn · reconis
  • reconnu ← erconnu · rceonnu · recconnu · recnonu · reconu · reconun · reocnnu · rreconnu

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "recoins" for "reconnu" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "recoins" is a noun and "reconnu" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "recoins" vs "reconnu" - which ranks higher?
"reconnu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,100 in our French list, against #27,214 for "recoins". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "recoins" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "reconnu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #317,455 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "recoins" and "reconnu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recoins vs rêvons". 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 #317,455 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list