English homophones
fir/fur
"fur" (#6,789 written frequency) beats "fir" (#15,408) in this 2-word /fɜː/ cluster. Size rank #133 of 1,007 English groups.
Data vintage
Frequency splits the cluster
These 2 spellings keep the same /fɜː/ reading, but written frequency splits them hard: "fur" leads at #6,789, with "fir" trailing at #15,408.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- No shared spelling stem: "fir" is 3 letters, "fur" is 3; only the sound ties them.
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across fir, fur: fr. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
fir
3 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVC
Inventory fir · private i
fur
3 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVC
Inventory fru · private u
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "fir" when you mean: A conifer of the genus Abies.
- Write "fur" when you mean: The hairy coat of various mammal species, especially when fine, soft and thick.
Each spelling
Nearby English homophone groups
What to do next
You've reviewed the 2-spelling cluster (fir, fur). Here's where to go from here.
- "fur" is the most frequent headword in this 2-spelling cluster (rank #6,789 in English). Full entry
- Among English homophone groups, a cluster of 2 spellings ranks #133 by size (1,007 groups in this vintage). Corpus statistics
- Explore a nearby 2-spelling cluster: flee · flea. Nearby cluster
- Each spelling in "fir, fur" has its own headword page with definition, IPA, and misspelling variants. First entry
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.