Which to use
“barrer” is a verb and “barrière” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,523
- “barrer” frequency rank
- #5,838
- “barrière” frequency rank
- 18361
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | barrer | barrière |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fermer avec une barre. | Assemblage de plusieurs pièces de bois ou d’autres matériaux, servant à fermer un passage. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set barrer and barrière apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: barrer is \ba.ʁe\ while barrière is \ba.ʁjɛʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18361, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
barrer is recorded at frequency rank #12,523, classified as averb, pronounced \ba.ʁe\. barrière is at rank #5,838, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ba.ʁjɛʁ\.
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 18361, this pair ranks #378,724 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of barrer vs barrière
Shared letters: aber. Private to "barrer": -. Private to "barrière": iè.
"barrer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "barrière" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- barrer ← abrrer · barerr · barrerr · barrre · bbarrer · brarer
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "barrer" and "barrière" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "barrer" or "barrière"?
Remembering barrer vs barrière
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “barrer”; for a noun, it's “barrière”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “barrer” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable