encoursvsencourtConfusable pair

Quick tell: encours is a noun, encourt is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“encours” is a noun and “encourt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,842
“encours” frequency rank
#38,781
“encourt” frequency rank
61623
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature encours encourt
Definition Montant des titres représentant des engagements financiers en cours. Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de encourir.

Same sound, different letters: encours vs encourt

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. encours and encourt follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
encours
7 ch
encourt

Homophone desk: encours vs encourt

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: encours and encourt carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ɑ̃.kuʁ\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by a single letter - s in “encours” becomes t in “encourt”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61623, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

encours is recorded at frequency rank #22,842, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃.kuʁ\. encourt is at rank #38,781, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.kuʁ\.

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 61623, this pair ranks #91,297 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of encours vs encourt

Shared letters: cenoru. Private to "encours": s. Private to "encourt": t.

"encours" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCC  ·  "encourt" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • encoursecnours · enccours · encorus · encourrs · encourss · encousr · encuors · enncours
  • encourtecnourt · enccourt · encorut · encourrt · encourtt · encoutr · encuort · enncourt

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "encours" and "encourt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "encours" is a noun and "encourt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "encours" or "encourt"?
"encours" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,842 in our French list, against #38,781 for "encourt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.

  • Full dictionary entry for "encours" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "encourt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #91,297 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "encours" and "encourt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "encourir vs encourt". 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 #91,297 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list