Which to use
“durcit” and “durent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,066
- “durcit” frequency rank
- #9,816
- “durent” frequency rank
- 43882
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | durcit | durent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de durcir. | Troisième personne du pluriel du passé simple du verbe devoir. |
Where the eye mixes durcit and durent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. durcit (CVCCVC) and durent (CVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses durcit with durent
A purely visual mix-up. durcit (\dyʁ.si\) and durent (\dyʁ\) 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 43882, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
durcit is recorded at frequency rank #34,066, classified as averb, pronounced \dyʁ.si\. durent is at rank #9,816, tagged as averb, 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 43882, this pair ranks #214,666 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of durcit vs durent
Shared letters: drtu. Private to "durcit": ci. Private to "durent": en.
"durcit" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "durent" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "durcit" and "durent" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "durcit" or "durent" show up more?
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 "durcit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "durent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #214,666 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "durcit" and "durent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "durci vs durcit". 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 #214,666 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.