errevserreurWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“erre” and “erreur” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#27,429
“erre” frequency rank
#1,026
“erreur” frequency rank
28455
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature erre erreur
Definition Lettre latine R, r. Fausse opinion ; fausse doctrine.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set erre and erreur apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
erre
6 ch
erreur

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. erre (\ɛʁ\) and erreur (\ɛ.ʁœʁ\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “erre” sits inside “erreur”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28455, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

erre is recorded at frequency rank #27,429, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛʁ\. erreur is at rank #1,026, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛ.ʁœʁ\.

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 28455, this pair ranks #322,693 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of erre vs erreur

Shared letters: er. Private to "erre": -. Private to "erreur": u.

"erre" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "erreur" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • erreere · erer · rere
  • erreurererur · ereur · erreru · erreurr · erruer · rereur

Frequency comparison

erre#27,429
erreur#1,026

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "erre" and "erreur" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɛʁ\ versus \ɛ.ʁœʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "erre" or "erreur"?
"erreur" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,026 in our French list, against #27,429 for "erre". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering erre vs erreur

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “erre” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list