Which to use
“courtes” and “courts” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,284
- “courtes” frequency rank
- #4,931
- “courts” frequency rank
- 11215
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | courtes | courts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de court. | Masculin pluriel de court. |
Where the eye mixes courtes and courts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between courtes and courts
A purely visual mix-up. courtes (\kuʁt\) and courts (\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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11215, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
courtes is recorded at frequency rank #6,284, classified as anadj, pronounced \kuʁt\. courts is at rank #4,931, tagged as anadj, 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 11215, this pair ranks #409,997 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of courtes vs courts
Shared letters: corstu. Private to "courtes": e. Private to "courts": -.
"courtes" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "courts" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "courtes" for "courts" ever safe?
Frequency check: "courtes" vs "courts" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "courtes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "courts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #409,997 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "courtes" and "courts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "courges vs courtes". 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 #409,997 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.