cœurvschœurWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“cœur” and “chœur” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#552
“cœur” frequency rank
#8,357
“chœur” frequency rank
8909
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cœur chœur
Definition Organe musculaire, creux et pulsatile assurant la circulation sanguine dans le corps humain ou animal. Troupe de gens qui chantent ensemble.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cœur and chœur apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
cœur
5 ch
chœur

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. cœur and chœur are pronounced identically (\kœʁ\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8909, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cœur is recorded at frequency rank #552, classified as anoun, pronounced \kœʁ\. chœur is at rank #8,357, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kœʁ\.

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 8909, this pair ranks #418,458 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cœur vs chœur

Shared letters: cruœ. Private to "cœur": -. Private to "chœur": h.

"cœur" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "chœur" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Frequency comparison

cœur#552
chœur#8,357

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cœur" and "chœur" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\kœʁ\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "cœur" or "chœur"?
"cœur" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #552 in our French list, against #8,357 for "chœur". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering cœur vs chœur

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cœur” 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