héritervsheurterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“hériter” and “heurter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#24,626
“hériter” frequency rank
#18,768
“heurter” frequency rank
43394
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hériter heurter
Definition Devenir propriétaire d’une chose par droit de succession. Entrer brusquement en contact.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hériter and heurter apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
hériter
7 ch
heurter

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. hériter (^((h muet))\e.ʁi.te\) and heurter (^((h aspiré))\œʁ.te\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43394, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hériter is recorded at frequency rank #24,626, classified as averb, pronounced ^((h muet))\e.ʁi.te\. heurter is at rank #18,768, tagged as averb, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\œʁ.te\.

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 43394, this pair ranks #218,378 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hériter vs heurter

Shared letters: ehrt. Private to "hériter": . Private to "heurter": u.

"hériter" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "heurter" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • heurterehurter · heruter · heuretr · heurrter · heurterr · heurtre · heurtter · heutrer

Frequency comparison

hériter#24,626
heurter#18,768

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hériter" and "heurter" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (^((h muet))\e.ʁi.te\ versus ^((h aspiré))\œʁ.te\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hériter" or "heurter"?
"heurter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,768 in our French list, against #24,626 for "hériter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hériter vs heurter

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hériter” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list