cosvscutConfusable pair

Quick tell: cos is a pronoun, cut is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#27,810
“cos” frequency rank
#11,244
“cut” frequency rank
39054
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cos cut
Definition qualquer coisa cortado

Letter map: cos vs cut

Shared letters muted; letters that set cos and cut apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
cos
3 ch
cut

Role in the sentence - cos and cut

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: cos is apronoun and cutanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39054, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cos is recorded at frequency rank #27,810, classified as apron. cut is at rank #11,244, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈkʌt/.

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 39054, this pair ranks #27,294 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cos vs cut

Shared letters: c. Private to "cos": os. Private to "cut": tu.

"cos" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "cut" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cos" and "cut" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cos" is a pronoun and "cut" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "cos" or "cut" show up more?
"cut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,244 in our Portuguese list, against #27,810 for "cos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "cos" and "cut".

  • Full dictionary entry for "cos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #27,294 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cos" and "cut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coin vs cos". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #27,294 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list