Which to use
“écrire” and “écrive” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,154
- “écrire” frequency rank
- #28,413
- “écrive” frequency rank
- 29567
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | écrire | écrive |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Créer une représentation de mots à l’aide de lettres et de symboles, par le biais d’un média. | Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de écrire. |
Where the eye mixes écrire and écrive
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: écrire vs écrive
A purely visual mix-up. écrire (\e.kʁiʁ\) and écrive (\e.kʁiv\) 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 a single letter - r in “écrire” becomes v in “écrive”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29567, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
écrire is recorded at frequency rank #1,154, classified as averb, pronounced \e.kʁiʁ\. écrive is at rank #28,413, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.kʁiv\.
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 29567, this pair ranks #315,864 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of écrire vs écrive
Shared letters: ceiré. Private to "écrire": -. Private to "écrive": v.
"écrire" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "écrive" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "écrire" for "écrive" ever safe?
Which is more common, "écrire" or "écrive"?
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 "écrire" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "écrive" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #315,864 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "écrire" and "écrive" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "écrive vs éprise". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #315,864 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.