Which to use
“encre” and “erre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,055
- “encre” frequency rank
- #27,429
- “erre” frequency rank
- 34484
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | encre | erre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Liquide ordinairement noir dont on se sert pour écrire, pour imprimer. | Lettre latine R, r. |
Where the eye mixes encre and erre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. encre runs 5 letters (VCCCV) against erre's 4 (VCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses encre with erre
A purely visual mix-up. encre (\ɑ̃kʁ\) and erre (\ɛʁ\) 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 34484, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
encre is recorded at frequency rank #7,055, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃kʁ\. erre is at rank #27,429, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛʁ\.
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 34484, this pair ranks #283,512 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of encre vs erre
Shared letters: er. Private to "encre": cn. Private to "erre": -.
"encre" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV · "erre" · 4 letters · shape VCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "encre" and "erre" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "encre" vs "erre" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "encre" and "erre" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "encre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "erre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #283,512 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "encre" and "erre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "erre vs errent". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #283,512 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.