recoursvsrecourtWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#2,195
“recours” frequency rank
#33,431
“recourt” frequency rank
35626
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recours recourt
Definition Action par laquelle on recherche de l’assistance, du secours. Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de recourir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set recours and recourt apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
recours
7 ch
recourt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: recours and recourt carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ʁə.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 “recours” becomes t in “recourt”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35626, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recours is recorded at frequency rank #2,195, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.kuʁ\. recourt is at rank #33,431, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁə.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 35626, this pair ranks #275,376 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of recours vs recourt

Shared letters: ceoru. Private to "recours": s. Private to "recourt": t.

"recours" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC  ·  "recourt" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recoursercours · rceours · reccours · recorus · recourrs · recourss · recousr · recuors
  • recourtercourt · rceourt · reccourt · recorut · recourrt · recourtt · recoutr · recuort

Frequency comparison

recours#2,195
recourt#33,431

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "recours" and "recourt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "recours" is a noun and "recourt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "recours" or "recourt"?
"recours" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,195 in our French list, against #33,431 for "recourt". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering recours vs recourt

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “recours”; for a verb, it's “recourt”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “recours” 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