Which to use
“dun” and “dur” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,344
- “dun” frequency rank
- #940
- “dur” frequency rank
- 17284
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dun | dur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Marron grisâtre #DAC8AE. | Ferme ; difficile à pénétrer ou à entamer. |
Where the eye mixes dun and dur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses dun with dur
A purely visual mix-up. dun (\dʌn\) and dur (\dyʁ\) 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 a single letter - n in “dun” becomes r in “dur”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17284, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dun is recorded at frequency rank #16,344, classified as anadj, pronounced \dʌn\. 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 17284, this pair ranks #383,911 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dun vs dur
Shared letters: du. Private to "dun": n. Private to "dur": r.
"dun" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "dur" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dun" and "dur" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "dun" or "dur" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dun" 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 #383,911 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dun" and "dur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "drunk vs dun". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #383,911 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.