1revs1stWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,950
“1re” frequency rank
#47,124
“1st” frequency rank
57074
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature 1re 1st
Definition Première. Abréviation de first. Premier, 1ᵉʳ.

Where the eye mixes 1re and 1st

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. 1re (CV) and 1st (CC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
1re
3 ch
1st

Visual trap between 1re and 1st

A purely visual mix-up. 1re (\pʁə.mjɛʁ\) and 1st (\ˈfɝst\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57074, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

1re is recorded at frequency rank #9,950, classified as anadj, pronounced \pʁə.mjɛʁ\. 1st is at rank #47,124, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ˈfɝst\.

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 57074, this pair ranks #117,190 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of 1re vs 1st

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

"1re" · 2 letters · shape CV  ·  "1st" · 2 letters · shape CC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "1re" and "1st" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pʁə.mjɛʁ\ versus \ˈfɝst\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "1re" vs "1st" - which ranks higher?
"1re" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,950 in our French list, against #47,124 for "1st". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "1re" and "1st" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "1re" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "1st" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #117,190 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "1re" and "1st" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "1D vs 1st". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #117,190 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list