aigrevsautreWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#31,810
“aigre” frequency rank
#96
“autre” frequency rank
31906
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aigre autre
Definition Qui a une saveur acide et amère provoquant un sentiment désagréable. Du même type mais dont l’identité est différente de ce dont on vient de parler.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set aigre and autre apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
aigre
5 ch
autre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. aigre (\ɛɡʁ\) and autre (\otʁ\) 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 31906, 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\. autre is at rank #96, tagged as anadj, pronounced \otʁ\.

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 31906, this pair ranks #300,808 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of aigre vs autre

Shared letters: aer. Private to "aigre": gi. Private to "autre": tu.

"aigre" · 5 letters · shape VVCCV  ·  "autre" · 5 letters · shape VVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aigreagire · aiger · aiggre · aigrre · airge · iagre
  • autreature · aurte · auter · autrre · auttre · uatre

Frequency comparison

aigre#31,810
autre#96

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aigre" and "autre" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɛɡʁ\ versus \otʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aigre" or "autre"?
"autre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #96 in our French list, against #31,810 for "aigre". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering aigre vs autre

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 “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