aérervsagréerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#31,836
“aérer” frequency rank
#37,642
“agréer” frequency rank
69478
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aérer agréer
Definition Assainir en mettant en contact avec l’air. Prendre à gré ; recevoir favorablement.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set aérer and agréer apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
aérer
6 ch
agréer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. aérer (\a.e.ʁe\) and agréer (\a.ɡʁe.e\) 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 69478, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aérer is recorded at frequency rank #31,836, classified as averb, pronounced \a.e.ʁe\. agréer is at rank #37,642, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.ɡʁe.e\.

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 69478, this pair ranks #54,958 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of aérer vs agréer

Shared letters: aeré. Private to "aérer": -. Private to "agréer": g.

"aérer" · 5 letters · shape VVCVC  ·  "agréer" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC

Frequency comparison

aérer#31,836
agréer#37,642

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aérer" and "agréer" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\a.e.ʁe\ versus \a.ɡʁe.e\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aérer" or "agréer"?
"aérer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,836 in our French list, against #37,642 for "agréer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering aérer vs agréer

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 “aérer” 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