toursvstourteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,105
“tours” frequency rank
#46,497
“tourte” frequency rank
48602
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tours tourte
Definition Pluriel de tour. Pâtisserie généralement salée contenant des viandes, des quenelles, etc.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
tours
6 ch
tourte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. tours (\tuʁ\) and tourte (\tuʁt\) 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 48602, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tours is recorded at frequency rank #2,105, classified as anoun, pronounced \tuʁ\. tourte is at rank #46,497, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tuʁt\.

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 48602, this pair ranks #177,584 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tours vs tourte

Shared letters: ortu. Private to "tours": s. Private to "tourte": e.

"tours" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "tourte" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • toursoturs · torus · tourrs · tourss · tousr · ttours · tuors
  • tourteoturte · touret · tourrte · tourtte · toutre · ttourte · tuorte

Frequency comparison

tours#2,105
tourte#46,497

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tours" and "tourte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\tuʁ\ versus \tuʁt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tours" or "tourte"?
"tours" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,105 in our French list, against #46,497 for "tourte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering tours vs tourte

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 “tours” 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