Which to use
“odour” is a noun and “our” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,518
- “odour” frequency rank
- #76
- “our” frequency rank
- 30594
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | odour | our |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | British standard spelling of odor. | Belonging to us, excluding the person(s) being addressed (exclusive our). |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set odour and our apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: odour is anoun and ouradeterminer. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “our” sits inside “odour”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30594, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
odour is recorded at frequency rank #30,518, classified as anoun. our is at rank #76, tagged as adet, pronounced /ˈaʊə(ɹ)/.
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 30594, this pair ranks #353,294 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of odour vs our
Shared letters: oru. Private to "odour": d. Private to "our": -.
"odour" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC · "our" · 3 letters · shape VVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- odour ← doour · oddour · odoru · odourr · oduor · oodur
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "odour" and "our" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "odour" or "our"?
Remembering odour vs our
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “odour”; for a determiner, it's “our”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “odour” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable