chargesvscourgesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,465
“charges” frequency rank
#49,583
“courges” frequency rank
52048
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature charges courges
Definition Pluriel de charge. Pluriel de courge.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
charges
7 ch
courges

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. charges (\ʃaʁʒ\) and courges (\kuʁʒ\) 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 52048, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

charges is recorded at frequency rank #2,465, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃaʁʒ\. courges is at rank #49,583, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kuʁʒ\.

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 52048, this pair ranks #150,552 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of charges vs courges

Shared letters: cegrs. Private to "charges": ah. Private to "courges": ou.

"charges" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "courges" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chargescahrges · ccharges · chagres · charegs · chargess · chargges · chargse · charrges
  • courgesccourges · coruges · cougres · couregs · courgess · courgges · courgse · courrges

Frequency comparison

charges#2,465
courges#49,583

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "charges" and "courges" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʃaʁʒ\ versus \kuʁʒ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "charges" or "courges"?
"charges" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,465 in our French list, against #49,583 for "courges". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering charges vs courges

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 “charges” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list