heurtervshurlerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#18,768
“heurter” frequency rank
#10,012
“hurler” frequency rank
28780
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature heurter hurler
Definition Entrer brusquement en contact. Pousser des cris prolongés, en parlant des loups et des chiens.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
heurter
6 ch
hurler

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. heurter (^((h aspiré))\œʁ.te\) and hurler (^((h aspiré))\yʁ.le\) 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 28780, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

heurter is recorded at frequency rank #18,768, classified as averb, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\œʁ.te\. hurler is at rank #10,012, tagged as averb, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\yʁ.le\.

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 28780, this pair ranks #320,752 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of heurter vs hurler

Shared letters: ehru. Private to "heurter": t. Private to "hurler": l.

"heurter" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "hurler" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • heurterehurter · heruter · heuretr · heurrter · heurterr · heurtre · heurtter · heutrer
  • hurlerhhurler · hruler · hulrer · hurelr · hurlerr · hurller · hurlre · hurrler

Frequency comparison

heurter#18,768
hurler#10,012

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "heurter" and "hurler" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (^((h aspiré))\œʁ.te\ versus ^((h aspiré))\yʁ.le\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "heurter" or "hurler"?
"hurler" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,012 in our French list, against #18,768 for "heurter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering heurter vs hurler

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 “heurter” 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