Which to use
“courir” is a verb and “coursier” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,707
- “courir” frequency rank
- #31,906
- “coursier” frequency rank
- 34613
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | courir | coursier |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Qui concerne les courses, les achats dans les magasins. |
Where the eye mixes courir and coursier
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. courir runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against coursier's 8 (CVVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses courir with coursier
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: courir is \ku.ʁiʁ\ while coursier is \kuʁ.sje\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34613, 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\. coursier is at rank #31,906, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kuʁ.sje\.
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 34613, this pair ranks #282,599 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of courir vs coursier
Shared letters: cioru. Private to "courir": -. Private to "coursier": es.
"courir" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "coursier" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "courir" for "coursier" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "courir" or "coursier" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "courir" and "coursier" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "courir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coursier" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #282,599 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "courir" and "coursier" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "courber vs coursier". 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 #282,599 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.