1e vs 1re, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“1e” and “1re” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#15,787
“1e” frequency rank: #9,950
“1re” frequency rank: 25737
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	1e	1re
Definition	Variante orthographique de eerste. Premier, 1ᵉʳ.	Première.

Where the eye mixes 1e and 1re

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. 1e runs 1 letters (V) against 1re's 2 (CV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

2 ch

3 ch

1re

Visual trap between 1e and 1re

A purely visual mix-up. 1e (\eːɾ.stǝ\) and 1re (\pʁə.mjɛʁ\) 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 25737, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

1e is recorded at frequency rank #15,787, classified as anadj, pronounced \eːɾ.stǝ\. 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 25737, this pair ranks #339,139 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of 1e vs 1re

Shared letters: e. Private to "1e": -. Private to "1re": r.

"1e" · 1 letters · shape V · "1re" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "1e" and "1re" mean the same thing in a sentence?

No. They are said differently (\eːɾ.stǝ\ versus \pʁə.mjɛʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Frequency check: "1e" vs "1re" - which ranks higher?

"1re" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,950 in our French list, against #15,787 for "1e". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

Full dictionary entry for "1e" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "1re" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #339,139 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"1e" and "1re" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "1D vs 1e". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #339,139 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.