Which to use
“durait” and “durcir” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,523
- “durait” frequency rank
- #28,135
- “durcir” frequency rank
- 56658
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | durait | durcir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de durer. | Rendre dur. |
Where the eye mixes durait and durcir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. durait (CVCVVC) and durcir (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: durait vs durcir
A purely visual mix-up. durait (\dy.ʁɛ\) 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 56658, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
durait is recorded at frequency rank #28,523, classified as averb, pronounced \dy.ʁɛ\. 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 56658, this pair ranks #119,726 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of durait vs durcir
Shared letters: diru. Private to "durait": at. Private to "durcir": c.
"durait" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "durcir" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "durait" and "durcir" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "durait" or "durcir"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "durait" 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 #119,726 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "durait" and "durcir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "durait vs durerait". 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 #119,726 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.