Which to use
“coudre” and “courre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,451
- “coudre” frequency rank
- #38,733
- “courre” frequency rank
- 57184
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coudre | courre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Assembler deux ou plusieurs objets avec un fil passé dans une aiguille ou un autre instrument semblable. | Forme ancienne de courir jusqu’au XIIIᵉ siècle. |
Where the eye mixes coudre and courre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses coudre with courre
A purely visual mix-up. coudre (\kudʁ\) and courre (\kuʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - d in “coudre” becomes r in “courre”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57184, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coudre is recorded at frequency rank #18,451, classified as averb, pronounced \kudʁ\. 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 57184, this pair ranks #116,569 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of coudre vs courre
Shared letters: ceoru. Private to "coudre": d. Private to "courre": -.
"coudre" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "courre" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "coudre" and "courre" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "coudre" or "courre"?
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 "coudre" 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 #116,569 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coudre" 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 #116,569 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.