Which to use
“char” and “cour” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,934
- “char” frequency rank
- #669
- “cour” frequency rank
- 7603
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | char | cour |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Chariot élevé. | Espace découvert qui dépend d’une maison, d’un hôtel, etc., et qui est entouré de murs ou de bâtiments. |
Where the eye mixes char and cour
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between char and cour
A purely visual mix-up. char (\ʃaʁ\) and cour (\kuʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7603, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
char is recorded at frequency rank #6,934, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃaʁ\. cour is at rank #669, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kuʁ\.
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 7603, this pair ranks #422,667 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of char vs cour
Shared letters: cr. Private to "char": ah. Private to "cour": ou.
"char" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "cour" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "char" and "cour" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "char" or "cour"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "char" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cour" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #422,667 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "char" and "cour" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cedar vs char". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #422,667 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.