Which to use
“dormir” and “durcir” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,861
- “dormir” frequency rank
- #28,135
- “durcir” frequency rank
- 29996
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dormir | durcir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Se reposer dans un état inconscient, de sommeil. | Rendre dur. |
Where the eye mixes dormir and durcir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. dormir and durcir follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between dormir and durcir
A purely visual mix-up. dormir (\dɔʁ.miʁ\) and durcir (\dyʁ.siʁ\) 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 29996, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dormir is recorded at frequency rank #1,861, classified as averb, pronounced \dɔʁ.miʁ\. durcir is at rank #28,135, tagged as averb, pronounced \dyʁ.siʁ\.
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 29996, this pair ranks #313,156 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dormir vs durcir
Shared letters: dir. Private to "dormir": mo. Private to "durcir": cu.
"dormir" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "durcir" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dormir" for "durcir" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dormir" vs "durcir" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dormir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "durcir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #313,156 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dormir" and "durcir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "durci vs durcir". 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 #313,156 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.