Which to use
“coeurs” is a typographic variant and “couru” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,662
- “coeurs” frequency rank
- #9,459
- “couru” frequency rank
- 20121
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coeurs | couru |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de coeur. | Fréquenté. |
Where the eye mixes coeurs and couru
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. coeurs runs 6 letters (CVVVCC) against couru's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses coeurs with couru
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: coeurs is \kœʁ\ while couru is \ku.ʁy\. 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 (typographic variant vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20121, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coeurs is recorded at frequency rank #10,662, classified as atypographic variant, pronounced \kœʁ\. couru is at rank #9,459, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ku.ʁy\.
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 20121, this pair ranks #369,849 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of coeurs vs couru
Shared letters: coru. Private to "coeurs": es. Private to "couru": -.
"coeurs" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCC · "couru" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "coeurs" and "couru" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "coeurs" or "couru" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "coeurs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "couru" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #369,849 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coeurs" and "couru" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coupa vs couru". 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 #369,849 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.