remuervsruerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,251
“remuer” frequency rank
#39,989
“ruer” frequency rank
57240
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature remuer ruer
Definition Mouvoir, déplacer. Jeter ou lancer vivement.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set remuer and ruer apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
remuer
4 ch
ruer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. remuer (\ʁə.mɥe\) and ruer (\ʁɥe\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57240, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

remuer is recorded at frequency rank #17,251, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.mɥe\. ruer is at rank #39,989, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁɥe\.

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 57240, this pair ranks #116,217 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of remuer vs ruer

Shared letters: eru. Private to "remuer": m. Private to "ruer": -.

"remuer" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "ruer" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • remuerermuer · remeur · remmuer · remuerr · remure · reumer · rmeuer · rremuer
  • ruerreur · rruer · ruerr · rure · urer

Frequency comparison

remuer#17,251
ruer#39,989

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "remuer" and "ruer" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁə.mɥe\ versus \ʁɥe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "remuer" or "ruer"?
"remuer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,251 in our French list, against #39,989 for "ruer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering remuer vs ruer

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 “remuer” 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