couraitvscourutWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19,795
“courait” frequency rank
#42,809
“courut” frequency rank
62604
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature courait courut
Definition Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de courir. Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de courir.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
courait
6 ch
courut

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. courait (\ku.ʁɛ\) and courut (\ku.ʁy\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62604, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

courait is recorded at frequency rank #19,795, classified as averb, pronounced \ku.ʁɛ\. courut is at rank #42,809, tagged as averb, 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 62604, this pair ranks #86,252 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of courait vs courut

Shared letters: cortu. Private to "courait": ai. Private to "courut": -.

"courait" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC  ·  "courut" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • couraitccourait · coruait · couarit · couraitt · courati · couriat · cuorait · ocurait
  • courutccourut · coruut · courrut · courtu · courutt · couurt · cuorut · ocurut

Frequency comparison

courait#19,795
courut#42,809

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "courait" and "courut" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ku.ʁɛ\ versus \ku.ʁy\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "courait" or "courut"?
"courait" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,795 in our French list, against #42,809 for "courut". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering courait vs courut

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 “courait” 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