alegrevsallègreWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#36,235
“alegre” frequency rank
#42,147
“allègre” frequency rank
78382
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alegre allègre
Definition Gai, joyeux. Plein d’entrain, joyeux.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
alegre
7 ch
allègre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. alegre ([aˈle.ɣ̞ɾe]) and allègre (\a.lɛɡʁ\) 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 78382, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alegre is recorded at frequency rank #36,235, classified as anadj, pronounced [aˈle.ɣ̞ɾe]. allègre is at rank #42,147, tagged as anadj, pronounced \a.lɛɡʁ\.

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 78382, this pair ranks #25,894 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alegre vs allègre

Shared letters: aeglr. Private to "alegre": -. Private to "allègre": è.

"alegre" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "allègre" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alegreaelgre · aleger · aleggre · alegrre · alerge · algere · allegre · laegre

Frequency comparison

alegre#36,235
allègre#42,147

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alegre" and "allègre" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([aˈle.ɣ̞ɾe] versus \a.lɛɡʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "alegre" or "allègre"?
"alegre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,235 in our French list, against #42,147 for "allègre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering alegre vs allègre

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 “alegre” 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