Which to use
“écrit” is an adjective and “écrive” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #500
- “écrit” frequency rank
- #28,413
- “écrive” frequency rank
- 28913
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | écrit | écrive |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Recouvert de signes graphiques, se dit spécialement d’un papier, d’un parchemin, etc., sur lequel on a écrit ; antonymes : blanc, vierge. | Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de écrire. |
Where the eye mixes écrit and écrive
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. écrit runs 5 letters (VCCVC) against écrive's 6 (VCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between écrit and écrive
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: écrit is \e.kʁi\ while écrive is \e.kʁiv\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28913, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
écrit is recorded at frequency rank #500, classified as anadj, 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 28913, this pair ranks #319,865 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of écrit vs écrive
Shared letters: ciré. Private to "écrit": t. Private to "écrive": ev.
"écrit" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "écrive" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "écrit" and "écrive" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "écrit" vs "écrive" - which ranks higher?
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 "écrit" 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 #319,865 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "écrit" and "écrive" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "écrive vs éprise". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #319,865 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.