Which to use
“courir” and “courre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,707
- “courir” frequency rank
- #38,733
- “courre” frequency rank
- 41440
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | courir | courre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | Forme ancienne de courir jusqu’au XIIIᵉ siècle. |
Where the eye mixes courir and courre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. courir (CVVCVC) and courre (CVVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: courir vs courre
A purely visual mix-up. courir (\ku.ʁiʁ\) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41440, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
courir is recorded at frequency rank #2,707, classified as averb, pronounced \ku.ʁiʁ\. 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 41440, this pair ranks #233,078 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of courir vs courre
Shared letters: coru. Private to "courir": i. Private to "courre": e.
"courir" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "courre" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "courir" and "courre" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "courir" vs "courre" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "courir" 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 #233,078 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "courir" 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 #233,078 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.