1ervs1reWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#893
“1er” frequency rank
#9,950
“1re” frequency rank
10843
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature 1er 1re
Definition Premier. Première.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set 1er and 1re apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
1er
3 ch
1re

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. 1er (\pʁə.mje\) 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 only by swapping two adjacent letters (er ↔ re) - a transposition the eye reads straight past. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10843, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

1er is recorded at frequency rank #893, classified as anadj, pronounced \pʁə.mje\. 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 10843, this pair ranks #411,462 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of 1er vs 1re

Shared letters: er. Private to "1er": -. Private to "1re": -.

"1er" · 2 letters · shape VC  ·  "1re" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequency comparison

1er#893
1re#9,950

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "1er" and "1re" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pʁə.mje\ versus \pʁə.mjɛʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "1er" or "1re"?
"1er" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #893 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 1er vs 1re

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 “1er” 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