Which to use
“courtes” is an adjective and “courus” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,284
- “courtes” frequency rank
- #45,530
- “courus” frequency rank
- 51814
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | courtes | courus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de court. | Participe passé masculin pluriel de courir. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set courtes and courus apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: courtes is \kuʁt\ while courus is \ku.ʁy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51814, 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\. courus is at rank #45,530, 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 51814, this pair ranks #152,249 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of courtes vs courus
Shared letters: corsu. Private to "courtes": et. Private to "courus": -.
"courtes" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "courus" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "courtes" and "courus" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "courtes" or "courus"?
Remembering courtes vs courus
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “courtes”; for a verb, it's “courus”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “courtes” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable