1re vs premières, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#9,950
“1re” frequency rank: #949
“premières” frequency rank: 10899
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	1re	premières
Definition	Première.	Féminin pluriel de premier.

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch

1re

9 ch

premières

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. 1re and premières are pronounced identically (\pʁə.mjɛʁ\) and both work as anadjective. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 6 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10899, 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\. premières is at rank #949, 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 10899, this pair ranks #411,237 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of 1re vs premières

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

"1re" · 2 letters · shape CV · "premières" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVVCVC

Frequency comparison

1re#9,950

premières#949

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "1re" and "premières" be used interchangeably?

No. They are pronounced the same (\pʁə.mjɛʁ\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.

Which is more common, "1re" or "premières"?

"premières" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #949 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 1re vs premières

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 “1re” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable