errentvserrerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#45,590
“errent” frequency rank
#27,802
“errer” frequency rank
73392
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature errent errer
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de errer. Vaguer de côté et d’autre ; aller çà et là.

Where the eye mixes errent and errer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. errent runs 6 letters (VCCVCC) against errer's 5 (VCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
errent
5 ch
errer

Why the eye confuses errent with errer

A purely visual mix-up. errent (\ɛʁ\) and errer (\e.ʁe\) 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 73392, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

errent is recorded at frequency rank #45,590, classified as averb, pronounced \ɛʁ\. errer is at rank #27,802, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.ʁe\.

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 73392, this pair ranks #40,622 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of errent vs errer

Shared letters: er. Private to "errent": nt. Private to "errer": -.

"errent" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC  ·  "errer" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • errent ← erent · erernt · errennt · errentt · erretn · errnet · rerent
  • errer ← ererr · errerr · errre · rerer

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "errent" and "errer" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɛʁ\ versus \e.ʁe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "errent" vs "errer" - which ranks higher?
"errer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,802 in our French list, against #45,590 for "errent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "errent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "errer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #40,622 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "errent" and "errer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épier vs errer". 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 #40,622 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list