Which to use
“dir” is a pronoun and “dur” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,530
- “dir” frequency rank
- #940
- “dur” frequency rank
- 9470
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dir | dur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Toi : deuxième personne du singulier au datif. | Ferme ; difficile à pénétrer ou à entamer. |
Where the eye mixes dir and dur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: dir vs dur
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dir is \diːɐ̯\ while dur is \dyʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “dir” becomes u in “dur”, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9470, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dir is recorded at frequency rank #8,530, classified as apron, pronounced \diːɐ̯\. dur is at rank #940, tagged as anadj, pronounced \dyʁ\.
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 9470, this pair ranks #416,526 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dir vs dur
Shared letters: dr. Private to "dir": i. Private to "dur": u.
"dir" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "dur" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dir" and "dur" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "dir" vs "dur" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "dir" and "dur" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #416,526 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dir" and "dur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "DCI vs dir". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #416,526 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.