commémorevscommémorerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#34,030
“commémore” frequency rank
#23,807
“commémorer” frequency rank
57837
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature commémore commémorer
Definition Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de commémorer. Rappeler par une cérémonie, une plaque de commémoration ou un autre objet, le souvenir d’une personne ou d’un fait.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set commémore and commémorer apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
commémore
10 ch
commémorer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. commémore (\kɔ.me.mɔʁ\) and commémorer (\kɔ.me.mɔ.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 extra letter(s) - “commémore” sits inside “commémorer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57837, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

commémore is recorded at frequency rank #34,030, classified as averb, pronounced \kɔ.me.mɔʁ\. commémorer is at rank #23,807, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ.me.mɔ.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 57837, this pair ranks #112,642 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of commémore vs commémorer

Shared letters: cemoré. Private to "commémore": -. Private to "commémorer": -.

"commémore" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV  ·  "commémorer" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC

Frequency comparison

commémore#34,030
commémorer#23,807

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "commémore" and "commémorer" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɔ.me.mɔʁ\ versus \kɔ.me.mɔ.ʁe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "commémore" or "commémorer"?
"commémorer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,807 in our French list, against #34,030 for "commémore". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering commémore vs commémorer

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 “commémore” 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