Which to use
“durcir” and “durer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,135
- “durcir” frequency rank
- #4,566
- “durer” frequency rank
- 32701
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | durcir | durer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Rendre dur. | Continuer d’être, se prolonger. |
Where the eye mixes durcir and durer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. durcir runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against durer's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: durcir vs durer
A purely visual mix-up. durcir (\dyʁ.siʁ\) and durer (\dy.ʁe\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32701, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
durcir is recorded at frequency rank #28,135, classified as averb, pronounced \dyʁ.siʁ\. durer is at rank #4,566, tagged as averb, pronounced \dy.ʁe\.
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 32701, this pair ranks #295,516 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of durcir vs durer
Shared letters: dru. Private to "durcir": ci. Private to "durer": e.
"durcir" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "durer" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "durcir" and "durer" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "durcir" or "durer"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "durcir" and "durer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "durcir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "durer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #295,516 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "durcir" and "durer" 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 #295,516 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.