1vs1reWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: 1 is a article, 1re is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“1” is an article and “1re” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#98
“1” frequency rank
#9,950
“1re” frequency rank
10048
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature 1 1re
Definition Un, une. Première.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set 1 and 1re apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

1 ch
1
3 ch
1re

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: 1 is \œ̃\ while 1re is \pʁə.mjɛʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “1” sits inside “1re”, and the parts of speech differ too (article vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10048, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

1 is recorded at frequency rank #98, classified as anarticle, pronounced \œ̃\. 1re is at rank #9,950, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pʁə.mjɛʁ\.

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 10048, this pair ranks #414,400 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of 1 vs 1re

Shared letters: none. Private to "1": -. Private to "1re": er.

"1" · 0 letters · shape  ·  "1re" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequency comparison

1#98
1re#9,950

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "1" and "1re" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "1" is an article and "1re" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "1" or "1re"?
"1" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #98 in our French list, against #9,950 for "1re". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering 1 vs 1re

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an article, it's “1”; for an adjective, it's “1re”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “1” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list