aigrevsaigreurWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: aigre is a adjective, aigreur is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“aigre” is an adjective and “aigreur” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,810
“aigre” frequency rank
#43,764
“aigreur” frequency rank
75574
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aigre aigreur
Definition Qui a une saveur acide et amère provoquant un sentiment désagréable. Qualité de ce qui est aigre, acide, notamment pour un aliment.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set aigre and aigreur apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
aigre
7 ch
aigreur

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aigre is \ɛɡʁ\ while aigreur is \ɛ.ɡʁœʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “aigre” sits inside “aigreur”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75574, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aigre is recorded at frequency rank #31,810, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛɡʁ\. aigreur is at rank #43,764, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛ.ɡʁœʁ\.

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 75574, this pair ranks #33,670 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of aigre vs aigreur

Shared letters: aegir. Private to "aigre": -. Private to "aigreur": u.

"aigre" · 5 letters · shape VVCCV  ·  "aigreur" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aigreagire · aiger · aiggre · aigrre · airge · iagre
  • aigreuragireur · aigerur · aiggreur · aigreru · aigreurr · aigrreur · aigruer · airgeur

Frequency comparison

aigre#31,810
aigreur#43,764

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aigre" and "aigreur" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "aigre" is an adjective and "aigreur" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "aigre" or "aigreur"?
"aigre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,810 in our French list, against #43,764 for "aigreur". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering aigre vs aigreur

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “aigre”; for a noun, it's “aigreur”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “aigre” 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