Which to use
“écris” and “écrive” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,886
- “écris” frequency rank
- #28,413
- “écrive” frequency rank
- 32299
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | écris | écrive |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de écrire. | Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de écrire. |
Where the eye mixes écris and écrive
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses écris with écrive
A purely visual mix-up. écris (\e.kʁi\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32299, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
écris is recorded at frequency rank #3,886, classified as averb, pronounced \e.kʁi\. 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 32299, this pair ranks #298,154 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of écris vs écrive
Shared letters: ciré. Private to "écris": s. Private to "écrive": ev.
"écris" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "écrive" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "écris" for "écrive" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "écris" or "écrive" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "écris" 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 #298,154 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "écris" and "écrive" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "écrive vs éprise". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #298,154 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.