coinvscosWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: coin is a noun, cos is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“coin” is a noun and “cos” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#41,891
“coin” frequency rank
#27,810
“cos” frequency rank
69701
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature coin cos
Definition plural de cù qualquer coisa

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set coin and cos apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
coin
3 ch
cos

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: coin is anoun and cosapronoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69701, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

coin is recorded at frequency rank #41,891, classified as anoun, pronounced /konʲ/. cos is at rank #27,810, tagged as apron.

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 69701, this pair ranks #3,871 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of coin vs cos

Shared letters: co. Private to "coin": in. Private to "cos": s.

"coin" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "cos" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • coinccoin · cion · coinn · coni · ocin

Frequency comparison

coin#41,891
cos#27,810

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "coin" and "cos" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "coin" is a noun and "cos" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "coin" or "cos"?
"cos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,810 in our Portuguese list, against #41,891 for "coin". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering coin vs cos

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “coin”; for a pronoun, it's “cos”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “coin” 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