Which to use
“coffre” is a noun and “courre” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,534
- “coffre” frequency rank
- #38,733
- “courre” frequency rank
- 44267
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coffre | courre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Meuble en forme de caisse, en bois ou en métal, propre à enfermer diverses choses. | Forme ancienne de courir jusqu’au XIIIᵉ siècle. |
Where the eye mixes coffre and courre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. coffre (CVCCCV) and courre (CVVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: coffre vs courre
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: coffre is \kɔfʁ\ while courre is \kuʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44267, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coffre is recorded at frequency rank #5,534, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔfʁ\. courre is at rank #38,733, tagged as averb, 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 44267, this pair ranks #211,769 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of coffre vs courre
Shared letters: ceor. Private to "coffre": f. Private to "courre": u.
"coffre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "courre" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "coffre" for "courre" ever safe?
Which is more common, "coffre" or "courre"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "coffre" and "courre" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "coffre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "courre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #211,769 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coffre" and "courre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "courges vs courre". 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 #211,769 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.