Which to use
“recourir” and “recouvrer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,547
- “recourir” frequency rank
- #27,933
- “recouvrer” frequency rank
- 37480
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | recourir | recouvrer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Courir de nouveau. | Retrouver, rentrer en possession ; acquérir de nouveau une chose qu’on avait perdue. |
Where the eye mixes recourir and recouvrer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between recourir and recouvrer
A purely visual mix-up. recourir (\ʁə.ku.ʁiʁ\) and recouvrer (\ʁə.ku.vʁe\) 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 37480, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
recourir is recorded at frequency rank #9,547, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.ku.ʁiʁ\. recouvrer is at rank #27,933, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.ku.vʁe\.
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 37480, this pair ranks #262,218 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of recourir vs recouvrer
Shared letters: ceoru. Private to "recourir": i. Private to "recouvrer": v.
"recourir" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "recouvrer" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "recourir" and "recouvrer" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "recourir" or "recouvrer"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "recourir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "recouvrer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #262,218 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "recourir" and "recouvrer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recouper vs recouvrer". 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 #262,218 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.