altérervsavérerConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#22,157
“altérer” frequency rank
#15,095
“avérer” frequency rank
37252
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature altérer avérer
Definition Modifier dans sa nature, dans sa structure, un corps. Reconnaître ou faire reconnaître pour vrai.

Where the eye mixes altérer and avérer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
altérer
6 ch
avérer

Look-alike desk: altérer vs avérer

A purely visual mix-up. altérer (\al.te.ʁe\) and avérer (\a.ve.ʁe\) 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 37252, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

altérer is recorded at frequency rank #22,157, classified as averb, pronounced \al.te.ʁe\. avérer is at rank #15,095, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.ve.ʁe\.

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 37252, this pair ranks #263,804 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of altérer vs avérer

Shared letters: aeré. Private to "altérer": lt. Private to "avérer": v.

"altérer" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "avérer" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "altérer" and "avérer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\al.te.ʁe\ versus \a.ve.ʁe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "altérer" or "avérer" show up more?
"avérer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,095 in our French list, against #22,157 for "altérer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "altérer" and "avérer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "altérer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "avérer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #263,804 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "altérer" and "avérer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "avéra vs avérer". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #263,804 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list