âprevsavareWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#29,604
“âpre” frequency rank
#23,458
“avare” frequency rank
53062
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature âpre avare
Definition Qui, par sa rudesse ou son âcreté, produit une sensation désagréable aux organes du toucher, de l’ouïe ou du goût. Qui a un désir excessif d’accumuler.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set âpre and avare apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
âpre
5 ch
avare

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. âpre (\ɑpʁ\) and avare (\a.vaʁ\) 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 53062, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

âpre is recorded at frequency rank #29,604, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɑpʁ\. avare is at rank #23,458, tagged as anadj, pronounced \a.vaʁ\.

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 53062, this pair ranks #143,365 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of âpre vs avare

Shared letters: er. Private to "âpre": . Private to "avare": av.

"âpre" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "avare" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • avareaavre · avaer · avarre · avrae · avvare · vaare

Frequency comparison

âpre#29,604
avare#23,458

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "âpre" and "avare" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɑpʁ\ versus \a.vaʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "âpre" or "avare"?
"avare" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,458 in our French list, against #29,604 for "âpre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering âpre vs avare

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 “âpre” 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