brûlervsbrûlureWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#5,635
“brûler” frequency rank
#21,260
“brûlure” frequency rank
26895
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature brûler brûlure
Definition Consumer, corroder ou endommager par le feu, ou par produits chimiques. Impression qu'un corps très chaud ou très froid, une substance corrosive ou caustique, un frottement, un rayonnement ou encore un courant électrique font sur la peau ou sur quelque autre matière et qui va jusqu’à les altérer ou même jusqu’à les détruire partiellement.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set brûler and brûlure apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
brûler
7 ch
brûlure

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: brûler is \bʁy.le\ while brûlure is \bʁy.lyʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26895, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

brûler is recorded at frequency rank #5,635, classified as averb, pronounced \bʁy.le\. brûlure is at rank #21,260, tagged as anoun, pronounced \bʁy.lyʁ\.

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 26895, this pair ranks #332,193 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of brûler vs brûlure

Shared letters: belrû. Private to "brûler": -. Private to "brûlure": u.

"brûler" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "brûlure" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV

Frequency comparison

brûler#5,635
brûlure#21,260

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "brûler" and "brûlure" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "brûler" is a verb and "brûlure" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "brûler" or "brûlure"?
"brûler" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,635 in our French list, against #21,260 for "brûlure". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering brûler vs brûlure

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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