Which to use
“chérir” and “courir” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,183
- “chérir” frequency rank
- #2,707
- “courir” frequency rank
- 42890
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chérir | courir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Aimer tendrement. | Se déplacer rapidement, avec impétuosité, par un mouvement alternatif des jambes ou des pattes prenant appui sur le sol, avec une phase de suspension en l’air, sans appui. |
Where the eye mixes chérir and courir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. chérir (CCVCVC) and courir (CVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: chérir vs courir
A purely visual mix-up. chérir (\ʃe.ʁiʁ\) and courir (\ku.ʁiʁ\) 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 42890, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chérir is recorded at frequency rank #40,183, classified as averb, pronounced \ʃe.ʁiʁ\. courir is at rank #2,707, tagged as averb, pronounced \ku.ʁiʁ\.
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 42890, this pair ranks #222,116 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of chérir vs courir
Shared letters: cir. Private to "chérir": hé. Private to "courir": ou.
"chérir" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "courir" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- courir ← ccourir · coruir · couirr · courirr · courri · courrir · cuorir · ocurir
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "chérir" and "courir" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "chérir" or "courir" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "chérir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "courir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #222,116 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chérir" and "courir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cheik vs chérir". 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 #222,116 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.