Which to use
“découvre” and “découvrir” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,773
- “découvre” frequency rank
- #1,328
- “découvrir” frequency rank
- 4101
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | découvre | découvrir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de découvrir. | Dégarnir de ce qui couvrait. |
Where the eye mixes découvre and découvrir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. découvre runs 8 letters (CVCVVCCV) against découvrir's 9 (CVCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses découvre with découvrir
A purely visual mix-up. découvre (\de.kuvʁ\) and découvrir (\de.ku.vʁiʁ\) 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 4101, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
découvre is recorded at frequency rank #2,773, classified as averb, pronounced \de.kuvʁ\. découvrir is at rank #1,328, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ku.vʁiʁ\.
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 4101, this pair ranks #432,461 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of découvre vs découvrir
Shared letters: cdoruvé. Private to "découvre": e. Private to "découvrir": i.
"découvre" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV · "découvrir" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "découvre" and "découvrir" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "découvre" vs "découvrir" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "découvre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "découvrir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #432,461 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "découvre" and "découvrir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "découvrais vs découvrir". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #432,461 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.