Which to use
“ger” is a noun and “guère” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,812
- “ger” frequency rank
- #3,924
- “guère” frequency rank
- 43736
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ger | guère |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mot. | Presque pas ; presque rien. |
Where the eye mixes ger and guère
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ger runs 3 letters (CVC) against guère's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between ger and guère
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ger is \ˈɡeːr\ while guère is \ɡɛʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43736, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ger is recorded at frequency rank #39,812, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈɡeːr\. guère is at rank #3,924, tagged as anadv, pronounced \ɡɛʁ\.
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 43736, this pair ranks #215,817 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ger vs guère
Shared letters: egr. Private to "ger": -. Private to "guère": uè.
"ger" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "guère" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ger" for "guère" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ger" vs "guère" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ger" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "guère" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #215,817 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ger" and "guère" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Geert vs ger". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #215,817 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.