our

/ˈaʊə(ɹ)/

//ˈaʊə(ɹ)// det

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"our" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“our” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #76) as a determiner. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#76
frequency rank, English
1,431
“O” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Belonging to us, excluding the person(s) being addressed (exclusive our).

Corpus desk

Index EN-our · our · English

our · rank #76 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #76
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,431
  • PHOTO-FINISH its

Nearest frequency peer: its (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “our”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “our” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

our vs oz
33% similar
our vs ow
33% similar
our vs ox
33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for our
PropertyValue
Headwordour
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechDeterminer
IPA/ˈaʊə(ɹ)/
Letters3
Frequency rank#76
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “our”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).ourlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “its” (#75), “than” (#77), “I'm” (#74). Among 1,431 “O” headwords, “our” is #76. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for our is neighbouring look-alikes ("oz", "ow", …), not just typos; it is adeterminer pronounced /ˈaʊə(ɹ)/. Frequency #76 among 1,431 “O” headwords. 9 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for our, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "oz", "ow", "ox", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English oure, from Old English ūre, ūser (“our”), from Proto-Germanic *unseraz (“of us, our”), from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-s-ero- (“our”). Cognate with Scots oor (“our”), West Frisian ús (“our”), Low German uns (“our”), Dutch onze (“our”), Germ… The correct English form is our, spelled O-U-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Belonging to us, excluding the person(s) being addressed (exclusive our).
  2. 2
    Belonging to us, including the person(s) being addressed (inclusive our).
  3. 3
    Of, from, or belonging to any entity that the speaker is a part of or identifies with, such as place of employment or education, nation, region, language, etc.
  4. 4
    Belonging to people in general.
  5. 5
    Belonging to everyone being addressed.
  6. 6
    Belonging to an individual being addressed; used especially of a person in the speaker's care, or to whom advice or instruction is being given.
  7. 7
    Belonging to a third person, especially someone in the speaker's care.
  8. 8
    Used to imply connection between the speaker's experiences or activities and a group of listeners.
  9. 9
    Used before a person's name to indicate that the person is in one's family, or is a very close friend.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how our appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Sorry, you're not invited to our party.
  2. Paying no attention to Lizzy, Mrs. Gibson began calling out our names in alphabetical order.

Etymology

From Middle English oure, from Old English ūre, ūser (“our”), from Proto-Germanic *unseraz (“of us, our”), from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-s-ero- (“our”). Cognate with Scots oor (“our”), West Frisian ús (“our”), Low German uns (“our”), Dutch onze (“our”), German unser, unsere (“our”) Danish vor (“our”), Norwegian vår (“our”), and more distantly Latin noster.

This word in other languages

nuestro(Español)notre(Français)unser(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "our"?
"our" is spelled O-U-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈaʊə(ɹ)/.
What does "our" mean?
As a determiner, "our" means: Belonging to us, excluding the person(s) being addressed (exclusive our).
What words are commonly confused with "our"?
"our" is commonly confused with "oz", "ow", "ox". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "our"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "our" is /ˈaʊə(ɹ)/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "our"?
From Middle English oure, from Old English ūre, ūser (“our”), from Proto-Germanic *unseraz (“of us, our”), from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-s-ero- (“our”). Cognate with Scots oor (“our”), West Frisian ús (“our”), Low German uns (“our”), Dutch onze (“o... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "our", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

its#75I'm#74now#72him#82

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list